Romani Studies

Keresztény szakkollégiumok

by Forray R. Katalin

Mask/Unmask. Überschreitungen von Grenzen rassifizierter Zugehörigkeiten in zwei Erzählungen über Rom_nija

by Stefan Benedik

published in: Zonen der Begrenzung
Aspekte kultureller und räumlicher Grenzen in der Moderne. Ed. by Gerald Lamprecht, Ursula Mindler, Heidrun Zettelbauer. Bielefeld: transcript 2012.173-186.

In this contribution I'm discussing a recent Czech film (Roma Boys - Přiběh lásky by Rozalie Kohoutová and David... more In this contribution I'm discussing a recent Czech film (Roma Boys - Přiběh lásky by Rozalie Kohoutová and David Tišer) and an Italian novel (il circo capovolto by Milena Magnani). In my analysis, I emphasis different strategies of longing and rejection for Romani identities, which are seemingly coherent and homogeneous. The film under scrutiny here challenges ascriptions to members of Romani communities and renders the often underlying racialising narratives visible. Furthermore, the film can be understood as a sophisticated examination of processes within the Romani movement and it's reception within majorities, that emphasise notions of a homogeneous and holistic, single 'European Romani minority'.
In the tradition of the enlightenment the modern European arts staged Romani people as figures of backwardness, savage and myth. These narratives contribute to the establishment of a fixed, essential border between Romani and Non-Romani people, that seems to be almost impossible to cross afterwards. Milena Magnani's novel is based on this understanding, as the plot concentrates on the impossibility of assimilation within a ‘Non-gypsy”-Environment. Thus, nature is reclaiming what allegedly belongs to her and claims the Romani body to be its property. As the discussed film proves, these connections are so thoroughly linked to cultural borders, that it remains impossible to question them without putting the finger on the meta-level of narration. Apparently, it is only possible to challenge those stories in achieving a deconstruction of the way in which they are told.

Harming "Cultural Feelings": Images and Categorisation of Temporary Romani Migrants to Graz/Austria. In: Michael Stewart, Márton Rövid (Ed.): Multi-Disciplinary Approaches to Romany Studies. Budapest: Central European University Press 2010. S. 71-90.

by Stefan Benedik

Brüggemann, C. & Škobla, D. (2012) Special schooling in Slovakia: a long way to go for desegregation policies. In Development and Transition (19).

by Christian Brüggemann

Forthcoming

Given the political commitment to avoid disproportionate streaming of Roma in special education settings, this paper... more Given the political commitment to avoid disproportionate streaming of Roma in special education settings, this paper explores the extent of ethnic segregation in education in Slovakia using household research data. Based on UNDP household surveys in Slovakia,  we compare 2005 and 2010 data on the number of young Roma enrolled in special education settings. We pay particular attention to the influence of settlement type and mother tongue on disproportionate streaming of Roma in special schools and classrooms.  Finally, we argue that institutional change is necessary to prevent unfair treatment, especially of those Roma with an insufficient command of the language of school instruction.

The Domari language of Aleppo (Syria)

by Bruno Herin

Linguistic Discovery 10.2 (Forthcoming).

The goal of this paper is to shed light on an under-described variety of Domari, a very scarcely documented Indo-Aryan... more The goal of this paper is to shed light on an under-described variety of Domari, a very scarcely documented Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Dōm, who are often referred to as “the Middle-Eastern Gypsies”. Described as an archaic Indo-Aryan language, Domari is known to the scholarly community from a limited number of word lists dating back to the 19th century and two partial descriptions based on the almost extinct dialect of Jerusalem. Apart from these sources, no reliable data are available about other varieties. The data presented in this paper come from an original field-work carried out in 2009 and 2010 amongst the Dōm community in the city of Aleppo in Northern Syria and are an important contribution to our knowledge of one of the very few old diasporic Indic languages spoken outside the Indian subcontinent.

Life Sentence: Romani Children in State Care in the Czech Republic

by Stepan Ripka

Co-authored with Kateřina Hrubá, publisher: European Roma Rights Centre

Romani children are disadvantaged within the Czech child protection system and highly overrepresented within the... more Romani children are disadvantaged within the Czech child protection system and highly overrepresented within the system of Czech institutional care. Relevant legislative and policy is not unified or sufficiently defined. A legal definition of child endangerment and legally binding guidelines for assessing child endangerment are lacking. Preventative social work is inadequate to address the problems experienced by marginalised Romani families. Significant problems experienced by a great number of Romani families in the Czech Republic, such as structural poverty, inadequate housing, unemployment and indebtedness are rarely addressed effectively and often form the basis for child removal, although the highest Czech courts have confirmed that this is not permissible. Low rights awareness negatively affects the position of Romani families during related court proceedings. Social work with Romani families while their children are in State care rarely results sufficient improvements to enable the return of affected children to their families. Romani children experience various problems while in institutional care, including physical abuse, ill-treatment and ethnic discrimination. Very few children’s homes offer programmes to support the development of positive ethnic identity. Romani children are less likely to be adopted than non-Romani children in the Czech Republic due to their ethnicity, and Romani children diagnosed as having a disability have limited educational and adoption opportunities. It is very difficult if not impossible for many Romani children to escape the existing system.

The governance of Romani people in Italy: discourse, policy and practice

by Nando Sigona

Sigona, N. (2011) 'The governance of Romani people in Italy: discourse, policy and practice', Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 16(5): 590-606

This article provides a critical overview of public policy and practice towards the Romani population in Italy over a... more This article provides a critical overview of public policy and practice towards the Romani population in Italy over a period of fifty years. It investigates the uses and consequences of the label ‘nomads’ and widespread essentialist assumptions about their alleged nomadic lifestyle, and the ambiguity embedded in policy which claims to solve the ‘Gypsy problem’. It explores in particular the ways in which recent political debate and policy initiatives have succeeded in reframing the Roma issue exclusively in terms of emergency and public security.
This discursive shift has produced the rescaling of the governance of Roma, relocating the responsibility for managing the Romani people from local authorities to central government. A significant corollary to this process has been the transfer of the Roma issue from the social policy agenda to a mere policing one, with important consequences in public policy, especially in relation to housing.

Il Consiglio d’Europa e l’inclusione sociale dei rom e dei viaggianti

by Serena Baldin

in S. Baldin, M. Zago (a cura di), Il mosaico rom. Specificità culturali e governance multilivello, Collana Fondazione ISMU, FrancoAngeli, Milano, 2011, pp. 161-173

Sommario: 1. Premessa. - 2. L’educazione. - 3. L’abitazione. - 4. L’assistenza sociale e sanitaria. - 5. La lotta... more Sommario: 1. Premessa. - 2. L’educazione. - 3. L’abitazione. - 4. L’assistenza sociale e sanitaria. - 5. La lotta contro la povertà e l’emarginazione. - 6. Considerazioni finali.

Da oltre quarant’anni il Consiglio d’Europa si occupa della tutela dei rom e dei viaggianti, con un impegno che nel tempo si è fatto sempre più assiduo e incisivo. Il corpus di raccomandazioni, risoluzioni, sentenze e rapporti stesi dagli organi del Consiglio relativi a questi gruppi è oramai nutrito, sì da poterne ricavare un quadro articolato di strategie e strumenti che seguono tre direttrici: l’impegno per l’inclusione sociale; la lotta all’antiziganismo, una forma distinta di razzismo e di intolleranza che sta alla base di atti di ostilità che vanno dall’esclusione alla violenza; la salvaguardia delle minoranze. Questo contributo si propone di evidenziare solo uno fra i vari aspetti emersi nell’ambito della attività del Consiglio d’Europa che aspirano ad avere ricadute positive sulle condizioni di vita di rom e viaggianti, ovvero l’inclusione sociale, attraverso una ricostruzione sistematica dei principi, delle norme pattizie e delle indicazioni offerte agli Stati.

S. Baldin, M. Zago (a cura di), Il mosaico rom. Specificità culturali e governance multilivello, Collana ISMU, FrancoAngeli, 2011, pp. 254

by Serena Baldin

Le minoranze rom in Europa: proposte classificatorie e accomodamento delle istanze identitarie

by Serena Baldin

in P. Bonetti, A. Simoni, T. Vitale (cur.), La condizione giuridica di Rom e Sinti in Italia, Atti del convegno internazionale svoltosi a Milano-Bicocca (16-18 giugno 2010), Giuffrè, Milano, 2011, pp. 175-202

Sommario: 1. Premessa introduttiva. – 2. I rom: un mosaico di minoranze. – 3. L’emersione della identità minoritaria... more Sommario: 1. Premessa introduttiva. – 2. I rom: un mosaico di minoranze. – 3. L’emersione della identità minoritaria dei rom. – 4. La classificazione dei rom in alcune tipologie minoritarie. – 5. I rom come gruppi sociali svantaggiati. – 6. I rom come minoranze etnico-linguistiche. – 7. I rom come popoli indigeni? – 8. Riflessioni interlocutorie.

L'articolo si propone di classificare i rom nell’ambito di alcune tipologie minoritarie per individuare gli strumenti istituzionali adottati o adottabili ai fini del miglioramento delle condizioni di vita e dell’accomodamento identitario di questi gruppi. A tal fine, verranno utilizzate le tipologie del gruppo sociale svantaggiato, della minoranza etnico-linguistica e – come esercizio di speculazione teorica, suffragato da alcune recenti tendenze – del popolo indigeno.
L’interrogativo che si profila sullo sfondo è quali siano gli strumenti idonei a salvaguardare i gruppi rom. Di conseguenza, si prenderà spunto dalla dottrina e dalla prassi per evincere le soluzioni più garantiste, normativamente accolte o astrattamente prospettabili, nonché per segnalare le problematiche riscontrate con maggior frequenza. Gli ordinamenti che verranno menzionati, lo saranno a meri fini esemplificativi e/o in quanto forniranno una risposta al tema indicato, giacché la diffusione dei rom in Europa e le relative politiche di (non) riconoscimento rendono arduo proporre in questa sede una indagine comparativa per assodare il livello effettivo di tutela concessa da tutti gli Stati. Più modestamente, il lavoro punta a stabilire delle semplici connessioni fra ordinamenti, con la mera pretesa di individuare un trend a livello europeo, una tendenza parziale tanto quanto sono frammentari i gruppi in oggetto, nell’intento di far affiorare alcune strategie di inclusione e di accomodamento identitario per ognuna delle categorie minoritarie proposte.

Le rivendicazioni minoritarie dei rom in Europa fra giustizia sociale e diritti collettivi

by Serena Baldin

in federalismi.it, Anno VII - Nr. 26 - 11/01/2012

Sommario: 1. Premessa. – 2. I manifesti politici dei rom. – 3. Quali diritti per i rom? – 4. L’inclusione sociale e le... more Sommario: 1. Premessa. – 2. I manifesti politici dei rom. – 3. Quali diritti per i rom? – 4. L’inclusione sociale e le attività dell’Unione europea nei riguardi dei rom. – 5. L’accomodamento delle istanze minoritarie.

Imagining the Past, Creating Identity: the Case of the Bayash

by Annemarie Sorescu-Marinkovic

Published in: "Glasnik etnografskog Instituta SANU" 59 (2), 45-59.

Based on fieldwork conducted among several Bayash communities in the Balkans, the author examines the way in which the... more Based on fieldwork conducted among several Bayash communities in the Balkans, the author examines the way in which the interlocutors assume an identity and try to construct a past for their people, using etiological legends about the origin of
their community which combine heterogeneous historical and
geographical knowledge. The author shows that imagining
their past is as problematic for the Bayash as it is for any other
Roma or non-Roma group; the author argues that the eclectic
nature of this process is heralded by the fact that it is a regular
stage in the development of the historical thinking of each nation.

Napolitanci iz Mehovina [The half-breeds from Mehovine]

by Annemarie Sorescu-Marinkovic

Published in: Banjaši na Balkanu – Identitet etničke zajednice (ur. B. Sikimić), Beograd: Balkanološki institut, 2005, pp. 175–200.

The gurban displaced: Bayash guest workers in Paris

by Annemarie Sorescu-Marinkovic

Published in: Kurban in the Balkans (ed. B. Sikimić), Beograd: Balkanološki institut, 2007, pp. 137–151.

Бајашите во Париз [The Bayash in Paris]

by Annemarie Sorescu-Marinkovic

Published in: Културен живот, јуни-септембар, 3–4/2008, Македонија, 2008, pp. 70–79.

Ђурђевданско јагње и/или гурбан за здравље [St. George's Day lamb and/or gurban for health]

by Annemarie Sorescu-Marinkovic

Published in: Крвна жртва: трансформације једног ритуала (ур. Биљана Сикимић), Београд: Балканолошки институт САНУ, 2008, pp. 99–122.

The Bayash in Croatia: Romanian vernaculars in Baranja and Medjimurje

by Annemarie Sorescu-Marinkovic

Published in: The Romance Balkans (ed. B. Sikimić, T. Ašić), Beograd: Balkanološki institut, 2008, pp. 173–225.

Între istorie şi memorie: băieşii din Europa [Between history and memory: the Bayash in Europe]

by Annemarie Sorescu-Marinkovic

Published in: Minoritar în Europa – Memorie, istorie, destin, Colecţia minorităţi 12, Complexul Muzeal Arad, 2011, pp. 269–296.

Book review: Between inclusion and exclusion. A social history of Roma and Sinti education in Italy. (2009) By Luca Bravi. Milan: Edizioni Unicopli

by Giovanni Picker

In Journal of Modern Italian Studies, (16) 5, 735-737 - 2011

This is the first appraisal of the 20th and 21st centuries history of Roma and Sinti education in Italy This is the first appraisal of the 20th and 21st centuries history of Roma and Sinti education in Italy

Nomads' Land? Political Cultures and Nationalist Stances vis-à-vis Roma in Italy

by Giovanni Picker

In: Michael Stewart and Marton Rövid (eds), Multidisciplinary Approaches to Romany Studies. Budapest: Central European University Press (2010): 211-22

In this chapter I analyze the social and cultural conditions under which in 2008 - for the first time after the... more In this chapter I analyze the social and cultural conditions under which in 2008 - for the first time after the Mussolini regime - the Italian government implemented exclusionary policies vis-à-vis Roma. By ethnographically looking at the rationales behind official discourses and practices concerning Roma in Centre-Left-wing Florence and in Centre-Right-wing Pescara over the last twenty years, I show that contemporary institutional exclusion of Roma can be viewed as predicated upon a complex mélange of benevolent and repressive approaches. Ultimately, both these approaches revolve around the idiom of nomadism, an old stigmatizing device, which becomes handy and functional to governing purposes.