Living with Distrust: Morality and Cooperation in a Romanian Village

In the Romanian village of Sateni, people distrust each other so much that they would rather take a building apart than share it. This cognitive ethnography argues that the costs of misplaced trust made Sateni restrict their cooperative behavior to a safe set of social relationships, such as family, kinship, and friendship ties. It also demonstrates how investing trust in family first is an optimal strategy against ecological or political risks.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 14 November 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

In the Romanian village of Sateni, a pervasive sense of distrust permeates every aspect of life, causing individuals to prioritize their own interests over cooperation and collaboration. This deep-rooted mistrust stems from a perception that resources are scarce and that survival requires every person to fight for their own advantage. Consequently, trust becomes a valuable commodity, and people are willing to go to great lengths to protect it.

The consequences of this pervasive distrust are far-reaching. Cooperation with unrelated or unfamiliar partners fails, and even within close-knit communities, suspicion and gossip thrive. Everyday interactions are marked by a constant vigilance, as individuals seek to protect themselves from potential harm. Cultural representations reflect this worldview, with stories and legends emphasizing the importance of vigilance and the dangers of trusting others.

Despite the pervasive distrust, Sateni residents engage in profound relationships with a specific set of people. These relationships are characterized by cooperative actions and mutual support, often spanning generations. However, these cooperative relationships are limited to a narrow circle of family, kinship, and friendship ties. Outside of this circle, trust is scarce, and people are more likely to prioritize their own interests.

Living in Distrust, an ethnography by Radu Umbres, offers an interdisciplinary interpretation of social interactions in a low-trust society. Through two years of fieldwork, Umbres explores the cognitive mechanisms that drive distrust and the ways in which it shapes social relationships. He argues that misplaced trust leads Sateni residents to restrict their cooperative behavior to a safe set of social relationships, primarily family, kinship, and friendship ties. Mutual trust, on the other hand, emerges through social agreement around culturally-codified institutions and persists only through fair and cooperative interactions.

Despite the limited scope of cooperative behavior, Sateni's village society manages to reproduce a low-level equilibrium of cooperation in relative stability. This stability is facilitated by the existence of shared values and cultural norms that emphasize the importance of family and community. While there may be scarce representations or investments in the common good, the village society relies on a system of dual morality that distinguishes between moral relationships within the community and suspicion towards the rest of society.

Living with Distrust addresses perennial moral dilemmas and essential questions of secrecy and honesty, distrust and reputation. By highlighting a system of dual morality sharply distinct from the Western-liberal ethos, Umbres challenges the notion that trust is always beneficial and encourages individuals to consider the costs and benefits of trust in their relationships. He argues that investing trust in family first is an optimal strategy against ecological or political risks, as family ties provide a sense of security and stability that can be difficult to replicate in other contexts.

In conclusion, the pervasive sense of distrust in Sateni village serves as a reminder of the complex dynamics that shape human relationships. While cooperation and collaboration are essential for survival, they are often hindered by deep-rooted mistrust and suspicion. By exploring the cognitive mechanisms that drive distrust and the ways in which it shapes social relationships, Living with Distrust offers valuable insights into the complexities of human morality and the strategies individuals can use to navigate the challenges of living in a low-trust society.

Weight: 500g
Dimension: 162 x 243 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780190869908