Roma Culture Research Articles

Developing intercultural sensitivity in prospective teachers: the potential role of Roma culture immersion field experience

ABSTRACT Teacher preparation programmes through cultural immersion field experiences in Schools as Learning Communities have the potential to increase the intercultural sensitivity of future teachers to provide an effective response to the needs of Roma children. This research evaluated the impact of an intercultural training programme for prospective teachers that included instruction on the situation of the Roma community in the educational system and the transformative potential of the Schools as Learning Communities project, as well as a cultural immersion field experience in a school as a learning community in a vulnerable context. An experimental research design was used that involved collecting pre and post intervention data on a total sample of 321 undergraduate students who were assigned to either a control or experimental group. Results showed that the community-based immersion experience increased the intercultural sensitivity of prospective teachers. Specifically, the intervention, which took place in Spain, had an effect on the dimensions of Respect for Cultural Differences and Interaction Confidence between the control and experimental groups, with greater initial intercultural sensitivity shown by women in the dimensions Respect for Cultural Differences, Interaction Enjoyment and Interaction Engagement. The role of schools as learning communities in contextualised training through direct interaction with culturally diverse individuals is discussed.

A Romani woman in Eurovision: ethnic and gender stereotypes in the reception of Remedios Amaya (1983)

ABSTRACT Remedios Amaya was the first Roma woman to represent Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest. Chosen because of her ethnicity, Amaya’s Romani heritage was meant to commemorate the Samudaripen/Porajmos (Romani Holocaust) in the year Munich hosted Eurovision (1983). Despite efforts to foster an image of modernization and progressive values, the hostile reception that followed her performance being awarded zero points contributed to the perpetuation of various stereotypes of Romani women. Analyzing press reviews of Europe’s most popular music program, my aim is to explore the perceptions of non-Roma commentators with regard to the selection and reception of a Romani singer as Spain’s representative. Looking at reception studies and stardom, this article will analyze the intersection of ethnic and gender stereotypes in relation to a female Roma artist during the early years of Spanish democracy. It will explore the hypersexualization and exoticization of Amaya’s TV performance, which revived the image of the Gitana, a trope that under Franco embodied the image of an idealized Spain. Widely exploited by the tourist industry, Roma culture (or more precisely, the naturalization of certain stereotypes assigned to Gitanos) was blamed for reviving the association with the recent dictatorship, thus displaying the persistence of Spain’s unresolved past and ambivalent cultural identity that still destabilizes Spaniards with regards to their status in Europe.

ПІДХОДИ ОНЛАЙНОВИХ МЕДІА ДО ВИСВІТЛЕННЯ РОМСЬКОЇ ТЕМАТИКИ В ПЕРІОД ПОВНОМАСШТАБНОЇ ВІЙНИ

<p><strong><em>The purpose of the study</em></strong><em> is to outline the approaches used by Ukrainian online publications to cover</em> <em>Roma issues in their materials during a full-scale war. The tasks of the research are to identify trends in the use of language and content elements in media texts, their observance of professional ethics and journalistic standards.</em></p><p><strong><em>Research methodology.</em></strong><em> A combination of methods is used in scientific exploration. In order to identify the language of hostility and Romaphobia in the coverage of Roma topics, a textological analysis of linguistic means in the media was applied. Qualitative content analysis was applied to identify trends in compliance or violation of ethical and professional norms in top online media indexed in the Google search engine. The methods of generalization and induction were applied during the systematization of the analyzed publications and the formulation of research conclusions.</em></p><p><strong><em>Results.</em></strong><em> The full-scale war further exacerbated the already difficult situation with Roma rights in Ukraine. This also applies to the media, which, instead of uniting the Roma national community and promoting its integration, began to separate it from Ukrainians in general. Some local and national media continue to «play» on clickbait headlines, violation of ethical norms through the use of hate speech and Romaphobia, thereby devaluing and humiliating Ukrainian citizens of Roma origin. At the same time, the analysis of media content – the language of publications, their form, content – showed that Ukrainian journalists, in comparison with previous years, began to use correct vocabulary and write balanced materials more often, observing the rules of journalistic ethics and standards of balance and credibility.</em></p><p><strong><em>Novelty.</em></strong><em> This study specifies the approaches of online media in working with Roma topics, allows to follow the latest situation with coverage of the life of the Roma national community during the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war.</em></p><p><strong><em>Practical meaning.</em></strong><em> The results of the work can contribute to the establishment of interaction between journalists and the Roma community in times of full-scale war. In addition, this research can be used directly by Roma activists and community organizations to raise public awareness of Roma culture and identity.</em></p><p><strong><em>Key words:</em></strong><em> Roma, online media, Roma issues, Romaphobia, hate speech, journalistic standards.</em></p>

“This Is Not Your Santa”: Roma Children Visualize Christmas

By discussing visualizations of Christmas by Hungarian children, I integrate children’s drawings and ideas about the holiday as they relate to education, authorship, and ways in which the Roma view the world. While images and figures of the traditional holiday appear as standard tropes, interpretations of the respective drawings provide insights into the children’s perceptions of – and wishes and aspirations for Christmas. Their images highlight anthropologically challenging socio-economic, educational, and familial aspects of Roma culture.

Formal education vs. informal education in the Roma community—a silent confrontation where nobody wins

ObjectivesOur main aim was to identify the advantages and disadvantages that the Roma relate to formal education vs. informal education, a discrepancy in the balance between the two can enrich the explanations regarding their low level of schooling—which hinders their social inclusion.MethodThere were 28 participants of Roma ethnicity, aged between 19 and 52 years old, who took part in the study: 15 were married, 13 were single, all of them school graduates. The design of the study is a qualitative one and the data was collected by means of three focus groups, based on a semi-structured interview. The data was analysed by using the method of content analysis.ResultsIn addition to the disadvantages related to institutional and economic factors, the Roma encounter in schools that belong to the cultural majority difficulties related to language and a lack of elements belonging to their culture. While they get used to the culture of the majority, they feel that they lose their own identity and that they are silently excluded from their community.ConclusionFormal education is seen as a way of personal development and as a path to an advantageous job, a door of access to the majority culture. However, informal education seems to win all the time, as a result of the family sovereignty and the fact that it is the central factor in the transmission and preservation of the Roma culture.

Roma Mentor Project: The Roma Intellectual Friend Model

Abstract Introduction: The Roma Mentor Project has originally been the experimental educational model of Open Society Institute for multiply disadvantaged Roma and non-Roma youth in the period 2006-2013. Following the closure of OSI’s experimental and alternative educational projects, it has been run further, during the 2016/17 academic year, with the support of the Norway Grant, by the Bhim Rao Association (located in Northern Hungary). Purpose: The Roma Mentor Project aims to establish the pedagogical model of the intellectual Roma friend in order to effectively overcome the sociocultural disadvantages of the Roma and non-Roma children with multiply disadvantages. Methods: Throughout the program a Roma mentor may be a Roma intellectual, artist or well-known figure from the media, whose primary goal is to act as a role model for the Roma children through presenting their own personal and professional life, as well as to become a friend of the mentored. Conclusions: A mentor from Roma origins appears during the project as a Roma intellectual friend in multiply disadvantaged Roma and non-Roma children’s lives, which is especially true considering that the Roma mentor draws tools of socialization from Roma culture.

“¡A QUELAR! Cabanyal Project: Flamenco as a Strategy to Promote the Inclusion

This research explores the potential of flamenco in its contribution to the social inclusion of children and youth of the vulnerable gypsy community. Through the Cartography of Knowledge, we holistically analyze the experience of the ¡A QUELAR! Cabanyal Project in training, artistic immersion, and research on and through flamenco carried out by Cía. Extremus Danza and the Cultural Association La Calle Baila since 2018 in the Cabanyal neighborhood (Valencia, Spain). This study reveals that the inclusion of the Roma community depends to a large extent on the work that must be done with most of the society, unaware of the Roma culture. In addition, it is necessary to introduce aspects of gypsy culture into the Spanish educational system, as is the case with flamenco. Given the lack of studies on flamenco as a tool for social inclusion, this research is relevant for the analysis of one of the pioneering projects in Spain, enabling the replication and scaling of its model and its methodology in educational centers in the Spanish territory to lessen the existing antigypsyism.

Respect for older people and their life experiences as the message of traditional Roma culture

The paper focuses on the status of older people in the traditional Roma culture through the perspective of the cultural pattern – the so-called all-Roma identity. It also states some life experiences, especially related to marginalisation and dealing with.

(In)visibility and the (unheard) voice of the Roma in Estonia: the depiction of Roma history and culture in museum exhibitions

ABSTRACT The article analyzes the depiction of Roma culture and history, including Roma genocide, in Estonian museums, on the example of three recent permanent exhibitions and a traveling exhibition. Inspired by the new museology principles, I discuss the silences concerning the Roma in memory institutions together with participation possibilities for Roma NGOs. I conclude that the depiction of Roma in permanent exhibitions is influenced by the lack of research (interest) and (knowledge about) materials, which is influenced by the conflict in collective memory about World War II and by the circulation of a false narrative of Roma not being a traditional minority in Estonia.

Social Services Management in the Context of Ethnic Roma Issues in the Czech Republic with a Focus on Education for Roma Children

According to qualified estimates by sociologists, the Czech national census and governmental bodies in the EU, as many as 350,000 ethnic Roma people live in the Czech Republic. Yet, only a fraction of the Roma population has received higher education and are achieving careers within and not alongside the majority society. Some believe that a more inclusive and integrative approach in education will facilitate long-term community work and better removal of prejudices. This represents quite a force that could appreciably affect the political landscape. Unfortunately, we run into the disunity of the Roma people among themselves, which brings more challenges to the forefront rather than solutions to the current status quo. This should change in the future. The current government concept for this purpose supports the development of Roma culture and education. This overview study should bring more arguments to the table regarding the need for Czech Romani/Roma intervention in education and social affairs. This overview article gives an insight into current Czech Roma/Romani education and social service-related issues.

Stimulating Poverty Alleviation by Developing Tourism in Marginalised Roma Communities: A Case Study of the Central Spiš Region (Slovakia)

The main objective of this study is to demonstrate that opportunities to support the poor marginalised Roma communities (MRCs) by creating opportunities for their active participation in tourism development have been under-ultilised to date. In particular, the application of a pro-poor tourism (PPT) approach is an advantage that allows the cultural specificities of the MRCs to be exploited for their own development. A risk factor for successful implementation is the considerable differentiation within Roma communities. This study analyses the approaches of 65 municipalities of the Central Spiš region to the development of PPT as an option for poverty reduction in the MRCs in Slovakia. Based on the analysis of the local preconditions for tourism development, the specific potential for the development of Roma culture and the traditional economic activities, human resources, and the degree of segregation, we show that there is no universal solution that would be applicable in all communities. The limited possibilities to obtain relevant data determined the analysis options we used. Therefore, we used a mixed-method approach, in which we subjected the quantitative data to qualitative analysis based on interviews with the mayors of the communities being studied. Four assumptions were verified in the aforementioned way: (1) the MRCs in villages in the immediate vicinity of developed tourist centres show a higher level of activity in relation to their own development; (2) Roma who are active in small-scale farming will also be more active in maintaining other traditional craft activities, typical for Roma communities in Slovakia, forming the basis for the development of their own PPT product; (3) the activity of NGO’s focusing on the development of the local MRC’s is not a guarantee for the development of PPT activities in the villages; and finally that (4) the high level of segregation of marginalised Roma communities is a major obstacle for the implementation of PPT. This paper concludes with a typology of municipalities in relation to the preconditions for the development of PPT, which can be considered as a contribution to the discussion on the possibilities of a differentiated approach to PPT development strategies at the level of municipalities with the numerous MRC’s.

Connecting Roma Communities in COVID-19 Times: The First Roma Women Students' Gathering Held Online.

COVID-19 has exacerbated the vulnerability of the Roma communities in Europe. However, these communities have a strong sense of resilience, and the role of Roma women must be highlighted since they have historically nurtured solidarity networks even in the most challenging situations. Aim: A particular action organized by a Roma Association of Women is analyzed: the Roma Women Students’ Gathering (RWSG, or gathering). In its 19th edition, this democratic space aimed at tackling the challenges the pandemic has raised and its impact on the Roma communities. Method: The 19th RWSG, which was the first one held online, was inductively analyzed to gain a deeper understanding of the key aspects that the Roma women highlight when they organize themselves. Results: RWSG generates optimal conditions where Roma women identify the challenges affecting their community and, drawing on the dialogues shared, agree on strategies to contest them. RWSG also enhanced solidarity interactions that enabled the conquering of the virtual space, transforming it into an additional space where the Roma could help each other and thus better navigate the uncertainties unleashed by COVID-19. Key features of the Roma culture emerged in these spaces of solidarity, such as protecting the elderly and prioritizing community wellbeing rather than only the individual’s preferences. Conclusions: Roma women play a key role in weaving an organized response to the uncertainty derived from COVID-19, and connecting them to the public sphere, potentially achieving social and political impacts.

Roma Cultural Influencers: Social Media for Identity Formation

In the ‘Societies and Lifestyles’ project, 2006-2009, 10 post-communist countries analysed values of so-called fringers: small ethnic groups living on the fringes of society. One of them, the Hungarian Roma appeared to have a rich cultural heritage that had been exploited without its integration into an authentic and empowering cultural presence. (Forray & Beck, 2008). Roma heritage, representing about 10 % of Hungarian population, is not exhibited permanently, rarely appear in social media and isn’t recognised even by the socially challenged Roma community. Stakeholder meetings indicate that educational poverty is more threatening for youth than financial needs: it is cultural immersion is needed to build healthy identity. As part of the HORIZON2020 AMASS - Acting on the margins – Arts as social sculpture research project, we developed a training and mentoring program for aspiring Roma cultural influencers. We assumed that social media can be an agent to fight educational poverty and can be used as an arts-based intervention to promote the development of socially challenged youth. Influencers of the Roma community, predominantly male, focus on celebrities and scandals or raise their voice against negative prejudices. Their attitudes do not encourage majority youth to read their messages. Our young Roma girl influencers show cultural values of Roma heritage in witty, youthful voice that is convincing and popular. This paper presents their emergence and shows their unique voices. After two semesters of training in Roma culture, media skills, legal regulations, and online journalism, nineteen girls have successfully established themselves in social media. When disadvantaged minorities try to raise their voices, the response is often characterised as hostile and biased (Glucksman, 2017). We identified psychological traits needed for successful cultural media presence through pre- and post-course measurement. Our training program enhanced skills in all areas with digital competence showing the greatest improvement. The process-folios (documentation of growth during training, cf. Gardner, 1999) showed increased self-assurance and commitment to Roma roots. Those who opted out of the course were threatened by the aggressive tone of social media and / or found regular presence irreconcilable with daily duties (Kárpáti and Somogyi-Rohonczy, 2021). We analysed the social media iconography (Drainville, 2018) of the Roma on Instagram and TikTok in Hungary and on the international scene and identified the scarcity of authentic cultural content. Through cultural immersion, they appropriated ancient motives and symbols that often-assumed new meaning. Not hiding gloomy reality, their intention was to show beauty in their environment and highlight cultural achievements and personal growth against all the odds. The Hungarian Roma Cultural Influencers are not only content providers – they are role models also for their communities.

Költészet és sors

The study introduces Károly Bari’s oeuvre through his book The Adoption of Immobility: Collected Poems, Prose and Artworks 1966–2018, published in 2019. It uses not only poetics, but also ethnographic, artistic, translation and critical approaches. At the turn of the millennium, the global, Hungarian, and minority Roma culture went through a significant transformation, which is still ongoing. Many of the categories and definitions used to describe this culture are potentially disappearing or have already disappeared. The phenomena and question of the canon has become more nuanced, as well as the definitions of minority-majority cultures and of the world literature. Yet the purified aesthetic forms of Bari’s poetry do not depend on these definitions. This can make the analysis of the works more difficult, but it also offers a chance to create new critical voices and directions.

Book Review: Roma Minority Youth across Cultural Contexts: Taking a Positive Approach to Research, Policy, and Practice

Roma Minority Youth across Cultural Contexts: Taking a Positive Approach to Research, Policy, and Practice is an important academic resource that has added to the scarce literature base on Roma culture. Through contributors from diverse backgrounds and utilizing relevant methodological approaches, the book bridges the gap between research and practice in the field of positive youth development (PYD), as applied to Roma youth. This text is an informative tool for students, practitioners, researchers, and policy makers from PYD and related fields.

Participation in paid employment among the Finnish Roma

The article describes participation in paid work among Finnish Roma, based on data gathered by face-to-face interviews for the Finnish Roma Participation and Well-being Study (n = 234). We wanted to assess the relevance of some explanatory factors for the low paid work rate of the Roma, found in countries with a significant Roma minority, in the light of new material from Finland where the Roma minority is small and rather homogeneous. No earlier studies on their participation in paid work in Finland exist.The research shows the importance of education to finding paid employment, in compliance with earlier international results. Adherence to Roma culture, too, seems to cause problems to participation in paid employment. We were been able to assess discrimination at recruitment, obviously the key phase for successful or unsuccessful integration of the Roma in the Finnish labour market. Unlike in many countries, in Finland there was no significant difference in the paid employment rate of Roma men and women.

Tourism Development Options in Marginal and Less-Favored Regions: A Case Study of Slovakia´s Gemer Region

Marginal and less-favored regions are characterized by negative migration balance, lower living standards, aging of the population, a lower number of employment opportunities, lower educational level, and lower investments in the territory. Gemer is one of these regions in Slovakia. On the other hand, the Gemer region has a very interesting history and many cultural monuments, nature protection areas, and UNESCO World Heritage sites that create options for tourism development. The monuments of the Gothic Road have the potential for religious tourism. Karst relief and the sites and monuments related to mining present on the Iron Road provide suitable conditions for geotourism and mining tourism. Local villages contain traditional agricultural landscapes, which create suitable conditions for active rural tourism associated with creative tourism or agrotourism. There is also the promising possibility of cross-border cooperation with Hungary. However, the revenues from tourism do not reach the same level as in other, similar regions of Slovakia. The main failings of tourism development include the insufficient coordination of destination marketing organization stakeholders, lack of care for monuments, and underestimation of the potential of Roma culture and art production. However, analyzed state policy instruments on the promotion of tourism did not mitigate but rather exacerbated regional disparities in Slovakia.

Reflecting on public policies for Portuguese Roma since implementation of the NRIS: theoretical and practical issues

ABSTRACT The Roma population has been the most discriminated against throughout centuries of Portuguese society and have been victims of a ‘differential logic of racism’ that segregates them to the borderlines of society. In 2011 the EC adopted an EU Framework for Roma/Gypsies/Traveller Integration and invited member states to submit national strategies in four areas: housing, employment, education and healthcare. In Portugal, the National Strategy for Integration of Roma Communities, approved by the Council of Ministers in March 2013 encompasses those four areas and a fifth axis, under which priorities in areas such as mediation, recognition of Roma culture, anti-discrimination and gender equality were also included. This paper will outline how since implementation of the NRIS, in important areas such as housing and labour market little has been done and hundreds of Roma families are still without access to adequate housing or to labour market. Roma people continue to experience ‘everyday racism’, although the common discourse is that Roma do not want to integrate. The article will critically address the implementation and progress made with regards to the Portuguese NRIS addressing the underlying reasons for the lack of progress in these areas, while considering areas of limited progress and cautious optimism.

Simbolika bilja u srpskoj i romskoj nematerijalnoj baštini

The paper brings about the results of a research carried out within the project the Importance of Plants in Roma Culture, which on the one hand was dedicated to collecting of intangible cultural heritage of Roma on names of plants in Romani language and how they are used by Roma people in folk medicine, customs, religious celebrations, and, on the other hand to comparison between symbolic uses of certain plants in Serbian and Roma Culture. The research aim was to collect the names of plants in Roma language and to identify their use in folk medicine, customs, religious celebrations, as well as to compare the symbolism of certain plants in Serbian and Roma culture, i.e. to establish potential similarity of symbolism of plants in certain Roma ritual practice with the symbolism of plants in Serbian traditional culture through comparative analysis. For the purpose of the research, a number of students attending the program of first and second level of studies in Romani language at the Preschool Teacher Training College "Mihailo Palov" in Vrsac, supported by their mentors, according to the method of (semi-structured) interview collected data on names and symbolism of 38 different plants in Roma culture in Zabalj, Pirot, Jazak and Vrsac). Consulting relevant literature, the collected linguistic material was analyzed and classified, to be subsequently supported by theoretical impulses and findings of previous research. The obtained results, even though on the small scale sample, confirmed the assumptions that the symbolism of certain plants in Roma culture is similar of even the same in certain ritual practice as the symbolism of plants in the Serbian culture, as well as that certain names of plants are the same as those in majority of population (Serbs) Roma people live by. The research findings may serve as a starting point for more comprehensive research of the subject, as well as a motivation for further deeper research on intangible cultural heritage of Roma in Serbia. The research itself and the way it was conducted did certainly empowered the students, having provided them with the training on how to conduct a field interview, inspiring them to engage in further activities directed to preservation of Roma culture, as well as nurturing of multicultural dialogue, enriching the teaching material in a number of courses, especially within the program in Romani language.

Predlozi za unapređenje stanja u obrazovanju romske dece na osnovu mišljenja roditelja Roma i neroma

The article deals with education as one of the key factors for better social integration and improvement of living conditions of the Roma population. The research is focused on the attitudes of parents of Roma and nonRoma children in order to find concrete solutions to overcome the problem of education of Roma children in the municipality of Ub. The research included 55 parents of non-Roma children, 50 parents of Roma children and three parents of Roma children with disabilities. The results show that Roma children need support in terms of education from an early age, that it is important to raise the awareness of Roma parents and children about the need for education, that parents must be involved in school events and the child's progress. Greater engagement of teaching staff is needed in order for everyone in the school environment to feel equal, to enable education that would qualify them for working with Roma children, and to adapt teaching materials to the needs of children. Children from the majority community need basic knowledge of Roma culture to help Roma peers integrate more easily.