Conference: Challenging issues in Gypsy/Romani studies today
Centre for Russian, Soviet, Central and Eastern European Studies
Short presentation:
From film representations to anthropological studies, from novels to music, from news reports to political
debates, the Roma continue to be one of the most talked about, yet little understood, population in Europe.
This conference aims to fill the gaps in between the many fields dealing with the topic of Roma/Gypsy studies
and brings together scholars from across academic disciplines (history, anthropology, film studies, political
science). We invite you to participate in this one day event organised at the Byre Theater that provides an
engagement with some of the most pressing issues in the field to date.
Longer presentation:
The Roma, numbering approximately 10 million people in Europe alone, are the largest ethnic group within
the European Union without a state of its own. Particularly in the last decades, with the expansion of the
European Union to incorporate countries with large numbers of Roma, the socio-economic status of this
population has come under great debate. In this context, one of the biggest political dilemmas has been
finding a way of integrating a heterogeneous and diverse population, spanning across all countries of the
European Union, into their national societies, while allowing for the diversity, reproduction and cultivation of
a Roma way of life. Similarly, in order to gain a complete picture of the entanglement between Roma
minorities and the majority societies in which they live, the history of Roma in Europe (and elsewhere) needed
to be further integrated into the mainstream European history, of which they have been an inalienable part
ever since the Middle Ages.
Against this background, the field of Gypsy/Romani Studies has become increasingly useful not only in
highlighting the specific worldviews held by diverse Roma groups across the world, but also in emphasising
the embeddedness of Roma communities within their respective national societies. And yet, the field itself
continues to be a contested terrain, bringing together scholars from across disciplinary boundaries, often with
diverse and contradictory views.
The conference intends to offer a space for a conceptual exchange and dialogue on some of the most
challenging and controversial topics in Gypsy/Romani studies today: amongst which the notions of mobility,
marginality, belonging, authenticity and democracy come center stage. On these bases we bring together new
and established scholars, from a diversity of academic fields: history, anthropology, film studies and political
science. The aim is to create a space for dialogue, debate and exchange of ideas as well as to introduce the
audience to the variety of issues arising from the study of Romani/Gypsy communities.
The conference is part of the conference series of the Centre for Russian, Soviet, Central and Eastern European
Studies.
It is made possible with support from the Leverhulme Trust, Institute for Transnational and Spatial History, the
Centre for Russian, Soviet, Central and Eastern European Studies (CRSCEES), Institute for Global Cinema and
Creative Cultures, University of St Andrews, Department of Social Anthropology, University of St Andrews and
Byre Theater.
Organisers:
Elena Marushiakova is presently a Leverhulme Visiting Professor at the School of History, University of St
Andrews and a Romani Studies scholar at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (contact: emp9@standrews.ac.uk)
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Raluca Bianca Roman (co-organiser) is a PhD student in the Department of Social Anthropology, University of
St Andrews and an Academy of Finland visiting researcher at the Center for Nordic Studies (CENS), University
of Helsinki. (contact: rr44@st-andrews.ac.uk)
Conference date and venue: Friday, November 6th, Byre Theatre (Abbey St, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9LA). For
further details contact organisers
PROGRAMME
Opening of conference: 09.00
Session One: 09.15 – 10.45
Paloma Gay y Blasco (University of St Andrews)
Beyond the anthropology of Roma
Dina Iordanova (University of St Andrews)
Why So Many Films Opt to Deal with the Roma?
Jan Grill (University of Manchester)
Uses and abuses of ‘forced’ in the context of Roma migration research
Coffee break: 10.45 – 11.15
Session Two: 11.15 – 12.45
Elena Marushiakova and Veselin Popov (University of St Andrews/ Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences).
From Roma Muslims to Romani Islam.
Antonio Montañes (Complutense University of Madrid)
Gitano Identity and Religion: The role of ethnicity and distinction in Gitano conversion to
Pentecostalism in Spain.
Raluca Bianca Roman. (University of St Andrews)
Inbetweeners: belonging and non-belonging among the Finnish Roma
Lunch: 12.45 – 14.00
Session Three: 14.00 – 15.30
Sofiya Zahova (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
Early marriages among Roma: The case of Bulgaria
Juraj Marušiak (Institute of Political Science, Slovak Academy of Sciences)
“Roma issue” and democracy de-consolidation in Slovakia
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Peter Stadius (Center for Nordic Studies, University of Helsinki)
Political culture of the majority and Roma minorities: The Nordic Case
Coffee break: 15.30 – 16.00
Session Four: 16.00 – 17.00
Marcos Toyansk Guimarais (University of São Paulo & University of Seville)
Identity, authenticity and belonging: Contrasting the cases of European and Brazilian Gypsies
Martin Fotta (Goethe University, Frankfurt/Main)
Between ‘nomadic cosmology’ and traditional people’s ideology: Cigano nomadism and the Calon
spatiality in Brazil
Open discussion: 17:00 – 18:00
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