Gypsy Studies and European Minority Rights Law
Asséo, Henriette
Gypsy Studies and European Minority Rights Law - 2004.
80
The emergence of Gypsy studies into politics and into the academic sphere took place at a special period in European history. Cultural sociology thus came into contact with the Roma world within the framework of Anglo-Saxon minority law and the policy of multiculturalism. Their goal is a "unified Roma political community" with its own competent representatives. However, the activities of minority law adepts and Roma leaders, forced to simultaneously enforce the principle of transnational recognition and the demand for local representation, are based on cultural essentialism, defined in the academic field of Gypsy Studies. At the same time, such an approach directly contrasts historical empiricism and works against anyone unwilling to take such a view. Cultural premises are further propagated through numerous research centres, relying on the financial aid from European institutions and NGOs, as well as through programmes aimed at helping and developing Roma communities. These can then justify the presence of self-proclaimed experts on the Roma people in decision-making bodies. It is thus apparent that there is a connection between the instrumentalization of the idea of citizenship and the marginalisation of the historic approach to researching the Roma and Gypsy people.
Gypsy Studies and European Minority Rights Law - 2004.
80
The emergence of Gypsy studies into politics and into the academic sphere took place at a special period in European history. Cultural sociology thus came into contact with the Roma world within the framework of Anglo-Saxon minority law and the policy of multiculturalism. Their goal is a "unified Roma political community" with its own competent representatives. However, the activities of minority law adepts and Roma leaders, forced to simultaneously enforce the principle of transnational recognition and the demand for local representation, are based on cultural essentialism, defined in the academic field of Gypsy Studies. At the same time, such an approach directly contrasts historical empiricism and works against anyone unwilling to take such a view. Cultural premises are further propagated through numerous research centres, relying on the financial aid from European institutions and NGOs, as well as through programmes aimed at helping and developing Roma communities. These can then justify the presence of self-proclaimed experts on the Roma people in decision-making bodies. It is thus apparent that there is a connection between the instrumentalization of the idea of citizenship and the marginalisation of the historic approach to researching the Roma and Gypsy people.
Réseaux sociaux