Roma and Gypsy “Ethnicity” as a Subject of Anthropological Inquiry

Stewart, Michael

doi:10.1146/annurev-anthro-092010-153348

Cited by 64 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…The Roma population, being the largest ethnic minority in Europe, has attracted the attention of academics (7). Many researches are done regarding European Roma populations.…”

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confidence: 99%

Health and Roma People in Turkey

Ekmekçi¹

2016

Balkan Med J

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Background:The research and published literature on Roma health in Turkey is much more limited than in other European countries. Among these, there are hardly any published literature focusing on the health status, health indicators and health behaviors. Aims: The aim of this research is to describe the perceptions of health-related concepts and access and the use of health services and social determinants of the health of Roma people in Turkey. Study Design: Descriptive qualitative survey. Methods: The participants were chosen by random sampling. The semi-structured interview topic guide was developed from sources such as advice from the Romani community leaders, published evidence and personal experience from previous work with Roma communities.Non-directive open-ended questions allowed the exploration of their health status, how they conceptualize health and disease, their level of awareness on the impact of social determinants of health, on their health status and the access and use of health services. The data analysis was based on grounded theory. Analysis proceeded in four steps: 1. Reading and examining the transcripts separately using open coding, 2. Extracting the key words and codes from the transcripts and sorting them into categories, 3. Rereading the transcripts by using selective coding, and 4. Examining the categories derived from the open coding systematically and determining the concepts summarizing the material. Results:The survey results are compatible with the existing literature on Roma health and reveal that 1) there is a tight link between the lack of social determinants of health and the poor health status of Roma people 2) socioeconomic factors and cultural norms of the ethnic minority are suspicious factors 3) comparative and systematic research is needed to illuminate the actual health gaps and causal factors for them. Conclusion:The research proves that the need for comparative and systematic research in Turkey to determine the actual health status of Roma people and develop policies to combat the health disparities is profound.

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“…The Roma population, being the largest ethnic minority in Europe, has attracted the attention of academics (7). Many researches are done regarding European Roma populations.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Health and Roma People in Turkey

Ekmekçi¹

2016

Balkan Med J

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“…For a critical analysis of this legacy we draw on what Stewart (2013) refers to as the socio-historical approach to Romani studies. Major contributions are those of Okely (1983), Lucassen (1991), Willems (1997), Cottaar (1998), andMayall (2004).…”

Section: Scholarly Contributions To the Gypsy Legacymentioning

confidence: 99%

Roma Identity as an Expert-Political Construction

Surdu¹,

Kovats

2015

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The creation of an EU Framework for national Roma integration strategies (2011) marks a significant step in the politicisation of Roma identity by ensuring a further increase in the number of initiatives, projects and programmes explicitly targeting Roma. The Framework itself is part of a process that began with postcommunist transition and which has produced historically unprecedented levels of Roma political activism along with a proliferation of national and transnational policy initiatives focussed on Roma identity. In seeking to explain this contemporary political phenomenon, the article argues that Roma is an identity constructed at the intersection of political and expert knowledge by various actors, such as policymakers, Romani activists, international organizations and scholars. This political-expert identity is applied to groups that are not bounded by a common language, religion, cultural practice, geographic location, occupation, physical appearance or lifestyle. The article explores how this collation of disparate populations into a notional political community builds upon a centuries-old Gypsy legacy. It scrutinizes five strands of identification practices that have contributed to the longue durée development of today's Roma as an epistemic object and policy target: police profiling of particular communities; administrative surveys; Romani activism; Roma targeted policies; quantitative scientific research. The article argues that the contemporary economic and political conditions amidst which the politicisation of Roma identity is occurring explain how the ideological and institutional construction of the ethnic frame tends toward the reinforcement of the exclusion of those categorised as Roma, thus increasing the perceived need for Roma policy initiatives. A self-sustaining cycle has been created where Roma knowledge identifies Roma problems requiring a policy response, which produces more Roma knowledge, more needs and more policy responses. Yet, there are consequences to racialising public discourse by presenting Roma as both problematic and essentially different from everyone else. Hostility towards Roma has increased in many states indicating that the expert framing of Roma groupness affects social solidarity by disconnecting and distancing Roma from their fellow citizens.

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“…discrimination, racism or outright antigypsyism) (Fraser 1995;Selling et al 2015;Stewart 2012). Many social scientists claim that commonalities among the different Roma subgroups also involve similar ethnically framed ideologies and practices on their own part, albeit for the most part ones closely related to the external pressures mentioned (Gmelch 1986;MacLaughlin 1999;Stewart 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The health of segregated Roma: first-line views and practices: a case study in Slovakia using ethnographic methods

Belák¹

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Segregated Roma are also being oppressed through their self-exclusionary hopes and tastes. Chapter 3 of this thesis 2. Pushed and pulled towards the so-called margins, most segregated Roma become skilled at escaping the relative disadvantages of life standard in the so-called centers. Chapter 4 of this thesis 3. Many people who happen to serve segregated Roma feel that such position gradually forces them to choose between useless burnout and cynical neglect. Chapter 5 of this thesis 4. Trusting segregated Roma with more decision power and resources causes many of them to challenge the local structures that oppress them. Chapter 6 of this thesis 5. It would require a rather explicit selection process to make any risky genes concentrate in any Roma group-much more selective than Roma history could lead to. Chapter 7 of this thesis 6. Antigypsyism drives the poor health status of the Roma, mostly because most people involved, including segregated Roma, do not understand that it is so. Discussion of this thesis 7. We cannot claim to have formulated a convincing denial of the inequality of the human races, so long as we fail to consider the problem of the inequality-or diversity-of human cultures, which is in fact-however unjustifiably-closely associated with it in the public mind. Claude Levi-Strauss 8. We're all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn't. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing. Charles Bukowski 9. We live in a world where we have to hide to make love, while violence is practiced in broad daylight. John Lennon 10. We are lost, but other animals point to the right road. They are the right road.

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Roma and Gypsy “Ethnicity” as a Subject of Anthropological Inquiry

Cited by 64 publications

References 64 publications

Health and Roma People in Turkey

Health and Roma People in Turkey

Roma Identity as an Expert-Political Construction

The health of segregated Roma: first-line views and practices: a case study in Slovakia using ethnographic methods

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