Abstract
Zdeněk Uherek uses the example of the Roma in the Czech Republic to discuss some general aspects of political participation and the legitimation of power. The discussion focuses on the question of multiple responsibilities and deals predominantly with people who are ‘officially’ legitimised into leading positions by elections, tenders or other public selective mechanisms but feel responsible primarily to their own families. Although the chapter focuses on Romani families, its broader scope concerns the tension or direct conflict between family interest and public interest. The key argument is that, in contemporary democracies, the public and private, family and politics merge and intertwine, despite family and public policies being governed by different rules and moralities.
This study was supported financially by the research support scheme of the Charles University Progress Q 18.
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Notes
- 1.
A 36-year-old man, high school education; interview: Spring 2017.
- 2.
Conflicting responsibilities are found also within the established political system. Prato (2000), for example, addresses the conflicting responsibilities demanded by different roles in Italian politics; specifically, being, at the same time, an elected citizens’ representative, a party member, and a local administrator.
- 3.
Linguistically different groups of Roma live in the Czech Republic; they also differ by social organisation, subsistence activities, and non-verbal ways of communication. This diversity is recognised by both academicians dealing with Roma and the Roma themselves. The differentiation of Roma into ‘sub-ethnic’ units in the academic world is based on the self-identification of the Roma. The largest group (75–85%) in the Czech Republic are the so-called Slovakian Roma-Rumungri or Servike Roma. They migrated to the Czech Lands after the Second World War. The second major ‘sub-ethnic’ group of the Roma are Vlax (about 10%) and the rest are Hungarian Roma, Sinti, and Czech (Moravian) Roma. The latter are the remnants Roma families predominantly nearly exterminated during the Second World War (Davidová 1995). See also: http://www.dare-net.eu/introduction-to-roma-in-the-czech-republic.
- 4.
Practical schools are set up for children with reduced learning abilities or other problems that prevent them from attending elementary schools. Education in practical schools is less demanding and focuses on everyday life skills, functional literacy, and basic orientation in the contemporary world.
- 5.
The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic estimates the number of Roma in the Czech Republic between 100,000 and 300,000 people https://www.vlada.cz/cz/ppov/rnm/mensiny/romska-narodnostni-mensina-16149/ Accessed 2 March 2018.
- 6.
Source: Czech Statistical Office.
- 7.
Source: Czech Statistical Office.
- 8.
The Prague Spring was a democratisation process aimed at reducing the political dependence of Czechoslovakia on the Soviet Union and the communist bloc. It strived to establish greater cooperation with Western states and searched for ways to terminate the unfavourable economic development. The nationwide democratisation process was stopped by the occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968.
- 9.
The occupation of Czechoslovakia took place in 1968, but ‘normalisation’ proceeded gradually and with it the liquidation of the political élite of the Prague Spring. That is why in 1969 new political groupings could have been created under the influence of the Prague Spring.
- 10.
Letná is a big plain nearby the Prague Castle, where military parades were organised during the communist regime.
- 11.
Romani politician, 70-year-old man, university educated.
- 12.
In the scope of the above-mentioned inquiry, this was, for example, a case of a representative of the Roma National Parliament in the Czech Republic.
- 13.
Long-term communication of Roma and non-Roma in the Czech Republic and attempts of political correctness in labelling individual groups create a specific language. Those who are not Roma are often referred neutrally as the ‘majority’ [majorita]. For Roma, it is very often used today in the bit pejorative or slightly mocking sense the name ‘fellow citizens’ [spoluobčané], which was once introduced as a politically correct mark with the intent to emphasise the sense of belonging.
- 14.
Woman, 30, Chairperson of the Lache Chave organisation.
- 15.
Man, 37, Chairperson of the Palestra organisation.
- 16.
Woman, 26, Director of the Athinganoi organisation.
- 17.
Man, 55, Chairman of the Romani Union.
- 18.
The notion of purity is named and described slightly differently in individual Roma dialects, but the core of the concept is usually the same.
- 19.
The issues of unemployment in the Czech Republic were mapped and the problems related to that were identified in cooperation with the Government of the Czech Republic by theWorld Bank in 2008 with the help of the Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education of the Economic Institute and Charles University (CERGE) and the Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (ASCR), v.v.i.(World Bank 2008).
- 20.
Meyer Fortes and E.E. Evans-Pritchard speak of segmentary lineage system.
- 21.
Interview with a 57-years-old man with basic education.
- 22.
Source of data: Czech Statistical Office.
- 23.
From 1990 are the Roma officially declared to be a nation. Prior to 1990 they were predominantly refered an ethnic group, and Roma “nationality” could not be declared in the census.
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Uherek, Z. (2019). Romani Political Participation and Legitimization of Power Relations in the Czech Republic. In: Pardo, I., Prato, G.B. (eds) Legitimacy. Palgrave Studies in Urban Anthropology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96238-2_14
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