Joel Halpern is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His previous books include A Serbian Village in Historical Perspective , The Changing Village Community , T he Changing Peasantry of Eastern Europe , and The Far East Comes Near .
David A. Kideckel is Professor of Anthropology at Central Connecticut State University. He is author of The Solitude of Collectivism: Romanian Villagers to the Revolution and Beyond and has produced a video documentary focusing on Romania's Jiu Valley coal miners, entitled Days of the Miners: Life and Death of a Working Class Culture.