Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Dedication
- Some terms and definitions
- Introduction: Race, racism and social work
- one Rethinking anti-racist social work in a neoliberal age
- two The growth of xeno-racism and Islamophobia in Britain
- three The catalysers: ‘black’ professionals and the anti-racist movement
- four “Same, same, but different”
- five Antisemitism and anti-racist social work
- six Anti-Roma racism in Europe: past and recent perspectives
- seven In defence of multiculturalism?
- eight Social work and Islamophobia: identity formation among second and third generation Muslim women in north-west England
- nine Institutionalised Islamophobia and the ‘Prevent’ agenda: ‘winning hearts and minds’ or welfare as surveillance and control?
- ten ‘Street-grooming’, sexual abuse and Islamophobia: an anatomy of the Rochdale abuse scandal
- eleven My people?
- twelve Twenty-first century eugenics? A case study about the Merton Test
- thirteen The role of immigration policies in the exploitation of migrant care workers: an ethnographic exploration
- Conclusion: Race, racism and social work today: some concluding thoughts
- Bibliography
- Index
six - Anti-Roma racism in Europe: past and recent perspectives
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2022
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Dedication
- Some terms and definitions
- Introduction: Race, racism and social work
- one Rethinking anti-racist social work in a neoliberal age
- two The growth of xeno-racism and Islamophobia in Britain
- three The catalysers: ‘black’ professionals and the anti-racist movement
- four “Same, same, but different”
- five Antisemitism and anti-racist social work
- six Anti-Roma racism in Europe: past and recent perspectives
- seven In defence of multiculturalism?
- eight Social work and Islamophobia: identity formation among second and third generation Muslim women in north-west England
- nine Institutionalised Islamophobia and the ‘Prevent’ agenda: ‘winning hearts and minds’ or welfare as surveillance and control?
- ten ‘Street-grooming’, sexual abuse and Islamophobia: an anatomy of the Rochdale abuse scandal
- eleven My people?
- twelve Twenty-first century eugenics? A case study about the Merton Test
- thirteen The role of immigration policies in the exploitation of migrant care workers: an ethnographic exploration
- Conclusion: Race, racism and social work today: some concluding thoughts
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Following the chapter on anti-Semitism, Urh here looks at the history of anti-Roma, anti-Gypsy and anti-traveller racism. Across Europe Roma communities have, historically, suffered from racism and oppression – often a violent and bloody form of political action promoted by national states, by state employees and by far-right groups. Today the rise of far-right organisations (like the Jobbik Party in Hungary, which openly vilifies Hungary's Roma minority) has brought increasing levels of violence directed against the community. However, anti-Roma racism is not just a Hungarian, or East European, problem. Here Urh looks at the roots and origins of anti-Roma racism, its prevalence today and asks what social workers can and should do when working with the Roma community.
Introduction
Written sources bearing witness to the Roma population in Europe date back to the 14th and 15th centuries. On the basis of research and comparisons of the Romani language, linguists have identified the Roma migration route and agreed that the Roma came from India in the 14th century and began to settle in large numbers from the 17th century onwards (Hancock 1988). According to Okely (1996), the Roma as a European minority have one common feature, namely being perceived as ‘others’. This ‘otherness’ has been evoked in traditional studies (for example, anthropology, sociology, social work, and so on) to orientalise them by emphasising their Indian origin (Said 1996). The orientalisation of the Roma produces the effect of a double exclusion in their representation as both biological and cultural foreigners. Taking this as a starting point, Okely (1996) rejected the thesis that all Gypsies are Indian by origin, in turn rejecting the notions of ‘true’ Roma and ‘false’ Travellers. According to primordialist conceptualisations, which see ethnos as a universal framework of the existence of human groups, the Romani ethnos along with its constantly emphasised nomadism originates in India.
Data shows that there are between 10 and 15 million Roma in Europe. Countries such as Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania have the highest numbers of Roma, with estimates that there are 700,000–800,000 in Bulgaria, 550,000–600,000 in Hungary, and 1,800,000–2,500,000 in Romani.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Race, Racism and Social WorkContemporary Issues and Debates, pp. 115 - 130Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2013