How to Move from Power‐based to Dialogic Relations? Lessons from Roma Women

Abstract

IntroductionPoverty and the risk of suffering from it affect some 80 million people in Europe in many ways, including precarious working conditions, housing and health care problems and a lack of educational opportunities (European Parliament, 2008).The EuropeanYear for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion stressed that the Roma lived at greater risk of poverty than the rest of the European population.They suffer from marginalisation in education (segregation) and housing (evictions and poor quality housing or ghettos) and employment (very high unemployment rates) problems and few participate in political processes. Women are the most vulnerable, as they experience first-hand all these circumstances early on in their lives. Roma girls' experiences are far worse than those of most other children -their academic qualifications are far lower; many do not finish primary education and a high percentage does not complete secondary education (only 3% compared to 63% of non-Roma women). Because of the key role of Roma women in their community, their experience of discrimination complicates their efforts to make them and their families move out of poverty (European Parliament, 2006).Education can be one of the most significant elements in preventing and reversing this trend. Historically, many initiatives have attempted to solve this problem, but statistics demonstrate that most have failed. One element that is essential for any action to succeed is participation that actively involves communities (United Nations Development Programme, 2003). Moreover, if this participation is to succeed, it must be based on dialogue (Aubert & Flecha, 2009; Racionero & Padrós, 2010). Many European schools and schools worldwide are struggling to pursue this kind of relations with their communities, moving beyond power-based relations. This article illustrates how this process has taken place in a particular school with its Roma constituency. In order to understand how dialogic relations can be built and lead to inclusion, we present the results of a longitudinal qualitative case study in a predominantly Roma school in Spain that has made this transition. We first review theoretical contributions underlying the concept of dialogic relations. We then describe the methods used and the results obtained from the case study conducted under the INCLUD-ED Integrated Project (2006-2011) 1 . Our analysis shows how power-based relations are transformed into dialogic relations. This transition is defined by the demonopolisation of expert knowledge and the recognition of the Roma culture. We also discuss the impact of dialogic relations on Roma women and their communities in reversing poverty and exclusion. The article ends with some reflections.

‘Nothing about us without us’: the role of inclusive community development in school desegregation for Roma communities

“…11. The subject of attitudes towards mainstream integration is a complex one in one case study (Melgar et al 2011) Roma parents in Spain were not willing to allow their children to attend secondary schools because they were outside the Roma neighbourhood. The solution came through a form of ICD in which the Roma proposed that secondary education be offered at one of the primary schools within the Roma neighbourhood.…”

Short-term ethnography and women’s voices: insights from fieldwork with Roma communities

“…We further narrowed our category of 'women' to 'mothers'. 8 We knew from prior studies on engaging Roma women that, in mixed gender groups, Roma women who contributed to discussions about their experiences and knowledge usually spoke from their positions as 'mothers' (Godlewska-Goska 2016; Melgar et al 2011). Even prior to us introducing the category 'mother' as a means of facilitating the involvement of women, women themselves often, at the beginning of their turn, would preface their view by referring to themselves as 'mothers'.…”

The Invisible Feminist Action of Roma Families

“…In Spain, the employment insecurity and temporality of Roma are common because they tend to occupy jobs requiring low educational levels (Fundación Secretariado Gitano, 2012). In health, Roma have higher percentages in chronic diseases and lower life expectancy if compared with non-Roma population (Martín-Pérez et al, 2015), and in education, Romí girls drop out of primary school and do not finish secondary education much more than non-Romí girls (6% Romí girls and 63% non-Romí girls; Melgar et al, 2011).…”

“…More recently, feminist scholars have challenged ethnic biases against Roma by showing that Romí are agents of change in gender relations (Garcia, 2015). According to this shift in feminist studies, Romí show that their participation in education may increase the academic expectations of Roma children, moving beyond society’s stereotypes toward the Romí (Melgar et al, 2011). However, the inclusion of feminist perspectives into Roma research and the ways to include their voices is still an underresearched topic.…”