Sam Beck, Ana Ivasiuc, eds, <em>Roma activism: Reimagining power and knowledge</em>, New York and Oxford, Berghahn, 2018, pp. xvi-242
10.7340/anuac2239-625X-3934
Recensione di Sam Beck, Ana Ivasiuc, eds, Roma activism: Reimagining power and knowledge, New York and Oxford, Berghahn, 2018, pp. xvi-242.
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Sam Beck, Ana Ivasiuc, eds, <em>Roma activism: Reimagining power and knowledge</em>, New York and Oxford, Berghahn, 2018, pp. xvi-242
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Sam Beck, Ana Ivasiuc, eds, <em>Roma activism: Reimagining power and knowledge</em>, New York and Oxford, Berghahn, 2018, pp. xvi-242
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                                     2019 | ANUAC. VOL. 8, N° 2, DICEMBRE 2019: 285-288




                                                                      RECENSIONI
S a m BECK, Ana IVASIUC (eds) | Roma activism: Reimagining power and
knowledge, New York and Oxford, Berghahn Books, 2018, pp. xvi-242.


   This interdisciplinary book is divided into three parts (each one sub-
divided in three chapters): Renewing methods, Renewing sites; Renewing
methodologies; Renewing activism. The main thread linking the various
contributions to Roma Activism is a critique towards policies and practices
based on the principle of “positive discrimination” – a preferential model of
operation in the EU liberal agenda, which often falls into the trap of
essentialism, thus weakening the same processes of inclusion which is
intended to promote.
   In the first chapter, Hub Van Bar assesses the processes at play in Eastern
Europe since 1989. By using the category of “nongovernmentalism”, the
Author highlights the emergence of Roma civic organisations, the
involvement of European governmental agencies, and the financial support
of prominent donors. The imposition of policies to counter anti-Gypsyism
aimed at opening new perspectives for Roma or pro-Roma associations, but
in the medium term it has led to a reduction in their autonomy.
Furthermore, the gradual professionalization of stakeholders has produced
the rise of a “Gypsy industry”, as well as an ethnic turn in policy making,
resulting in a more symbolic than real participation of the interested
communities. Finally, the de-politicization of Romani issues diluted
activists’ strategies of empowerment into generic requests for labour market
inclusion of Roma individuals as disadvantaged people. In conclusion, Van
Baar postulates the development of a “critical Anthroposociology of
nongovernmentalism” that will align local and international instances,
favouring also the collaboration among organizations and groups working in
the field.
   Chapters two and three show the incongruities between international
activists’ policies and local understandings of conflicts. Anna Chiritoiu
examines the events related to the slaughtering of three Roma involved in a

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons ©Massimo Aresu
2019 | ANUAC. VOL. 8, N° 2, DICEMBRE 2019: 285-288.
ISSN: 2239-625X – DOI: 10.7340/anuac2239-625X-3934
286                                             SAM BECK, ANA IVASIUC (EDS) | ROMA ACTIVISM


murder and the burning of Roma houses by an angry mob in Transylvania
(1993). The timely mobilisation of activists created tensions among the local
Romani movement and the transnational organizations. The latter mobilized
victimhood and trauma as an emotional hook, leaving the conflict unsolved
and sharpening the contradictions between humanitarian sentiments and
strategic procedures functional to its resolution. As highlighted by the
Author, only a new epistemology within the Romani movement, pointing at
a dialectical confrontation between the various actors, can accommodate
such a contradiction.
   Laszlo Foszto, indirectly involved as an expert in two separate cases,
focuses on the discrepancies between activists’ agenda and local
understandings of conflicts. In the first, a Hungarian-speaking Roma
community (Rumengre) in Transilvania was involved in clashes with local
populations. The ethnic interpretative framework used by the pro-Roma
activists (i.e. Roma vs Hungarian) was rejected by the Rumengre, showing
how, in some cases, discourses based on Roma perennial victimhood can be
inappropriate. The second case, which is centred on the Romanian
parliament’s controversial proposal to use the ethnonym “Tigan” instead of
“Roma” in official documents, underlines both the limitations of univocal
homogenisation in the non-neutral field of identity definition and the
importance of self-identification and naming for the communities involved.
   The second section is opened by Andrew Ryder, with a Galilean dialogue
on how Roma researchers challenge the European Academic Network of
Romani Studies in relation to the notion of objective and neutral knowledge,
and its epistemological implications. Contesting the legitimacy of current
power hierarchies in the field, the Author highlights the substantial
irrelevance of the Roma component in defining the network’s strategy, since
its participation in EU-funded research seems useful only insofar as it grants
access to funding. Ryder advocates for a paradigm change that will lead to
inclusive forms of research, with real impact on the life of Roma communities.
   Angéla Kóczé, drawing from feminist and critical race theory, particularly
the category of intersectionality, develops a critique of mainstream Romani
studies. Using an auto-ethnographic approach, she analyses how Roma
women’s access to academia challenges long-established hierarchies and
power relations imbued with racism and sexism. The Author criticizes the
use of the category of “ethnic” instead of “race”, since it conceals the racism
against the Roma; nevertheless, she is confident that the work of the first
generation of Romani and pro-Romani feminist researchers can lead to a
pattern change.


2019 | ANUAC. VOL. 8, N° 2, DICEMBRE 2019: 285-288
SAM BECK, ANA IVASIUC (EDS) | ROMA ACTIVISM                                          287


   In chapter seven, Ana Ivasiuc examines the production and diffusion of a
“gray literature” produced by non-governmental organizations and donors
as part of a militant advocacy discourse. Such texts contribute to amplifying
a pervasive narrative of Roma victimhood based on Orientalist clichés that
allows access to funds sustaining paternalistic interventions. This discourse
has not yet led to significant goals in terms of Roma communities
empowerment, emphasising instead their perceived shortfalls and
inadequacies and contributing to neglecting their agency. This discursive
system should be deconstructed through an immersive ethnography in
specific contexts that will also promote a renewal of forms of activism.
   Margaret Greenfields opens the last section, focusing on the under-
researched nexus between Roma-related activism, research, and
policymaking. By analysing sectorial data, she highlights the low number of
studies focused on practice-oriented research. She quotes as an example of
good praxis a case in the UK involving Gypsy and traveller activists, trained
together with policy makers and academics in a mutual sharing of
experiences and knowledge – a model of network-building that can be
exported to other contexts.
   The absence of Romanlar (Turkish Roma) from the mass protest
movement of Gezi Park in May 2013, is the starting point for Danielle V.
Schoon, whose chapter follows the lines of Foszto’s and Chiritouiu’s
contributions. Within the specific national framework of contemporary
Turkey, for the Romanlar group Republican conceptions of difference and
citizenship, and the common belonging to Islam, override ethnic, linguistic
or cultural diversities, marking a lack of interest or sometimes antagonism
towards the international pressures to recognise minority rights. This case
confirms the urgency for a critical redefining of categories upon which
European Romani activism has built its identity politics, particularly the
category of “civic society” functional to redefine the existing power
relations, demonstrating the importance of ethnographic fieldwork to
understand lived experiences in local contexts.
   The book is closed by Anna Mirga-Kruszelnicka, who discusses the new
approaches and strategies of young Roma activists. These remark as, to date,
the Roma-focused political agendas of national and supranational
institutions and nongovernmental actors have not changed the existing
power imbalance. The analysis of identity discourses and practices by
activist associations once again indicates the urgent need for a paradigm
shift, starting from a refusal of elements of stigmatisation such as
victimhood and subalternity, and the investment in the development of a


                                       2019 | ANUAC. VOL. 8, N° 2, DICEMBRE 2019: 285-288
288                                             SAM BECK, ANA IVASIUC (EDS) | ROMA ACTIVISM


positive cultural identity. Such path of emancipation and self-confidence
presuppose a community engagement, with incisive grassroots action
bridging the gap with the other stakeholders.
   On the whole, the chapters are uneven. If in some cases the ethnographic
insights based on the observation of specific situations permit the reader to
grasp the significant elements of the debate, in others the arguments
proposed seem to refer to internal discussions among experts in the field,
those possessing the background knowledge necessary to decode the
interaction among the stakeholders and to fully appreciate the specific
issues at stake. In addition, the choice to focus on processes related mainly
to the interaction among European institutions and Eastern European states
does not allow for an evaluation of the impact of institutional policies in the
broader European framework. It should also be remarked that the critical
bibliography is almost exclusively in English, with the exclusion of
significant contributions from scholars writing in other languages.
   Nevertheless, the book offers meaningful insights and opens new
methodological and epistemological pathways, especially with regard to the
key issue of the agency of Roma communities, to be understood not as
passive subjects at the mercy of external institutions and non-governmental
organizations, but as independent actors able to act on the political scene.



                                                                     Massimo ARESU
                                                                  University of Leeds
                                                                  m.aresu@leeds.ac.uk




2019 | ANUAC. VOL. 8, N° 2, DICEMBRE 2019: 285-288
