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The Gypsy Legacy and Roma Politics

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Rethinking Roma

Part of the book series: Mapping Global Racisms ((MGR))

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Abstract

The historical antecedents of Roma as a contemporary political identity stretch back many centuries and include a profound distinction between Gypsies as outlaws in Western Europe while integral to east European feudal societies, a difference dissolved by Romantic social science and modern nationalism to create the modern ethnic conception of a Roma people. The chapter also analyses the ambiguity of communist approaches towards Roma and the replacement of assimilation by a new consensus based on promoting collective Roma identity at the expense of equality of opportunity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

    Ian Law

  2. Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration, Budapest, Hungary

    Martin Kovats

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  1. Ian Law
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  2. Martin Kovats
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Law, I., Kovats, M. (2018). The Gypsy Legacy and Roma Politics. In: Rethinking Roma. Mapping Global Racisms. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-38582-6_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-38582-6_3

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-38581-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-38582-6

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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