The Roma and the double-movement of Social Europe

ABSTRACT

This article uses a Polanyian frame to place the plight of Roma in Europe in the context of an age of crisis, as evidenced by faltering neoliberal economies and a corresponding rise in xenophobia and extreme manifestations of nationalism. The situation of the Roma remains precarious, a situation exacerbated by the 2008 economic crises and the COVID-pandemic. Despite a number of social inclusion measures in recent decades, at the national and European level which target the Roma, Roma exclusion remains a serious challenge. The paper assesses why previous policy regimes failed but also reflects on what is the way forward in terms of inclusive policy frameworks. The article seeks to provide some answers to these questions with a vision of a Polanyian countermovement in the form of a New Social Europe predicated on redistribution, recognition and community action but also a re-envisioning of integration and transformative change in structural and cultural terms.

KEYWORDS:

• Roma
• European Union
• Social Europe
• Polanyi
• critical thinking

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. The term encompasses Roma, Sinti, Kale, Romanichals, Boyash/Rudari, Balkan Egyptians, Eastern groups (Dom, Lom and Abdal) and groups such as Travellers, Yenish and the populations designated under the administrative term ‘Gens du voyage’, as well as people who identify themselves as Gypsies.

2. The absence of data disaggregated by ethnicity in many states means that we do not possess the hard statistics to give a definitive estimate of Roma unemployment (McGarry, 2012).

3. The EC launched several infringement cases under the RED mainly in the area of education and forms of segregation. Infringement can lead to the EU Court of Justice ruling that a member state must take action to comply with the Court of Justice judgment; it is a lengthy process as it takes time to gather data and scope is afforded to negotiate solutions. However, it is a cause of concern that the aforementioned cases have not been fully concluded, even after many years since the infringement was initiated.

4. The University of Alberta, Edmonton and Eötvös Loránd University Budapest in association with the Wirth Institute is involved in a project to facilitate dialogue and learning experiences between the Roma and Indigenous Canadians. Seminars were staged in Canada and Hungary in 2023.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andrew Ryder

Professor Andrew Ryder is a British social justice campaigner and researcher based in Hungary. He is the Director of the Institute of Political and International Studies Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. He has over two decades of involvement in Roma activism.