Abstract
This chapter discusses the new Polish state policy on the Roma minority, strongly influenced by the development of the European Union policy on the Roma. In the second part of the chapter, we present a case study using ethnographic data collected over several years on changes in how non-Roma in a Polish Carpathian village describe their relations with inhabitants of a neighboring Roma settlement. We analyze certain phenomena recurring in the discourses of state officials and decision-makers responsible for implementing the Roma policy. The core element of our approach is to contrast the administrative discourse with local patterns of common-sense thinking.
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23 June 2020
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Notes
- 1.
A kind of a ritual exists among researchers writing about Roma minorities, which is to attempt to resolve a dilemma: Which name should be used for this social group? The choice is between “Roma” or “Gypsy”? Many current leaders of this community use only the name “Roma” and consider the term “Gypsy” pejorative and offensive. They believe that “Roma” is the proper name of this community since this name also exists in Romani, the language that the Roma speak. This claim is often linked to Roma efforts (albeit very weak) to have their scattered community acknowledged as a nation, which would be evidence of the ethnic emancipation and transformation that the community is experiencing (Mróz 2007; Głowacka-Grajper 2012). In this essay we use the term “Roma”.
- 2.
Activities for the benefit of the Roma people are formed in consultation with the permanent representation of this community on the Joint Commission of Government and National and Ethnic Minorities. As part of the work of the Joint Commission, a Roma Task Force has also been established to address the special needs of this group. The Task Force comprises governmental representatives and representatives of the Roma minority organizations.
- 3.
From the perspective of the Romani people of a nomadic tradition (Polish Roma, Kełderasze and Lowarzy), the Bergitka Roma did not shape their identity on the basis of the Romanipen (the Romani moral code). Relations with Bergitka Roma used to be forbidden, for fear of defilement. Since the Bergitka Roma are a sedentary community that has lived for centuries close to non-Roma communities, they have undergone changes as a result of adapting to the outside world that have led to the loss of some features of their culture.
- 4.
The Department of National and Ethnic Minorities was set up within the structure of the Ministry of Interior and Administration in January 2000. It joined the Department of Religious Denominations and National or Ethnic Minorities in the Ministry of Administration and Digitization in November 2011. In November 2015, it was sent to the Ministry of Interior and Administration and was merged with the Department for Roma Minority Affairs and the National and Ethnic Minority Culture Group in April 2016.
- 5.
This work is based on the authors’ long-term field research composed of participant observation and in-depth interviews (2011–2016) among Bergitka Roma in Carpathian Villages and other Roma groups, non-profit organizations offering Roma integration services, and in-depth interviews with key political actors, local authorities and government officials responsible for developing the Polish strategy for Roma integration. Most of 156 in-depth interviews were recorded and transcribed. The data served a multi-dimensional analysis of the influence of the majority society on the Roma community as well as an analysis of local relations between Roma and non-Roma people. The main goal of our work was a full understanding of changes brought about by the Polish policy on Roma integration. The interview numbers quoted in parentheses refer to the entire set of transcripts. Additionally, in Section 6.2 we quote several in-depth interviews conducted in 1993–94 by Ewa Nowicka. They are marked with a zero.
- 6.
This man used a Polish verb that means “to cheat” which is an etymologically derivative of the Polish word for a Gypsy.
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This project has been financed by funding from the NCN of Poland, project number 2018/29/B/HS5/00019.
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Nowicka, E., Witkowski, M. (2020). The Roma Community: From Marginalization to Integration and Back. In: Michna, E., Warmińska, K. (eds) Identity Strategies of Stateless Ethnic Minority Groups in Contemporary Poland. Migration, Minorities and Modernity, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41575-4_2
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