From Victimhood to Citizenship: The Path of Roma Integration

Workshop Debates

Workshop Debates The aim of The workshop anDrás bíró the main purpose of this whole endeavour has been to stimulate dialogue between activists, intellectuals and commentators. encouraging this dialogue has been in the forefront of the initiators’ minds from the very start. For this reason it was decided to extend the discussion beyond the initial debate between the authors of the three essays through the medium of print as far as possible. Consequently a number of activists and intellectuals were invited to offer a short response to the essays in preparation for fuller discussion at a follow-up workshop. brief extracts from these comments are included as text boxes accompanying the edited transcript of the workshop proceedings. roma and non-roma with similar interests in developing the current level of discourse surrounding roma took part in a workshop held near bucharest in the autumn of 2011. the first day allowed participants to clarify points with the authors and engage in preliminary discussions, while the second day’s proceedings – which were recorded and subsequently transcribed – were devoted to more focused debate on what had been identified as key topics. the structure of this chapter is organized into eight sections, each of which concerns a single topic although certain overlaps in content are unavoidable. the views expressed by speakers during this second day have been edited and inevitably shortened in order to make them more accessible to the reader. also, in some cases, remarks have been repositioned to present more coherent coverage of specific themes and issues. In the same spirit a final chapter reflects on the workshop discussions and opens the floor to further expressions of opinion and viewpoints. this collective effort has never been considered as an ‘answer’ to the urgent and challenging questions now facing roma throughout europe. nevertheless it was intended to provoke a critical – and self-critical – attempt to analyse some of the underlying causes and inherent obstacles surrounding the historic emergence of this old actor in recent decades as a new, undeniably highly visible presence on the european scene. the answers, if any simple answers exist, will be given hopefully by the new generation of activists who approach the situation of each and every roma living in the european community by regarding them as equal citizens of their countries and of the eU. 1 the distinction between ethnos and demos had originally been drawn by the sociologist e.k. Francis. nicolae Gheorghe acknowledged his book on ethnic relations, which reconstructed sociology from the point of view of ethnicity, as a formative influence on his own approach. 130 Workshop Debates Demos or eThnos two dilemmas kristóf szombati: In discussing this topic I think we are faced by two dilemmas. the first involves a more practical issue – ethnic politics. the immediate question is: Do we need roma parties that represent the roma cause? or would other means help roma activists more in their work at local and national level? the second dilemma is broader in scope: What is roma activists’ vision of roma identity and the future for their people? two very different proposals are put forward. one is that roma should strive for inclusive citizenship in the nation states that actually exist, and which, according to current global dynamics, will continue to exist for the foreseeable future. the other is a more a cultural conception of the roma as a european nation or people. While I don’t think that these aims are mutually contradictory – at least at the ontological level – they do require priorities to be debated as regards which political strategy should be adopted. perhaps we should start with the more concrete matter and then move on to the wider question. ethnic or civic politics: a false dichotomy? kristóf szombati: one of the main arguments in favour of establishing roma ethnic parties has been that roma have specific concerns such as discrimination by the majority which could not be opposed effectively without focusing on ethnicity. Unrelated local initiatives of roma activists require reciprocal support of the kind generated by ethnic solidarity. however there are also serious counter arguments and I was among those making these. Firstly, is basing political identity on ethnicity too narrow an approach? It can be argued that factors other than ethnicity and discrimination – for example class – are also hindering roma integration. then there is the problem that ethnic parties make building alliances with potential allies far more difficult. iulius rostas: recently we organised a debate with doctoral...