The Paradoxes of the Italian Approach Towards the Romani People

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the socio-political context of contemporary Italy, particularly in the last 20 years. Specifically, this chapter explores the ‘Nomad Emergency’ at both national and local level, highlighting the existence of political continuity between left- and right-wing administrations. The enactment of this extraordinary measure concealed the existence of a long-established institutional tradition of racism and control directed at Romanies. It was not the result of a sudden, unexpected situation which required an immediate action, as the declaration of an ‘emergency’ might imply, but rather of a precise government strategy. Here I also analyse the Italian Government’s reception of the proposal from the European Commission to prepare national strategies for the social and economic inclusion of the Romani people. While the ‘State of emergency’ aggravated the already poor living conditions of the Romani population, the ‘National Strategy’ reconfirmed a well-established top-down government-knows-best attitude that dismissed the notion of directly involving the ‘target group’ itself in any policy deliberations.