Antiziganisms: Ethnographic Engagements in Europe

Abstract

Parallel to the interest in Roma at the social and political level, Antiziganism has rapidly gained the interest of social sciences since 2000. A copious literature has contributed to decisive breakthroughs in defining the concept and identifying its roots in the history of Europe. However, the debate has mostly developed with “Antiziganism” in singular declension, with the frequent merging together of cases originating in different contexts. After a speedy evolution, theorization shows signs of entering conceptualization redundancy. This thematic section wishes to move beyond the currently prevailing top-down reflection on Antiziganism. It offers the results of public anthropology and interdisciplinary research-actions, carried on in local contexts, in spaces of interaction between the Roma and the non-Roma, and by ethnographers intervening to promote a change. Ethnography of “Antiziganisms” and of the practices which counteract them offer opportunities for revealing the link between antiziganism and other forms of racism, the cognitive and emotional experience of the subjects at play in the specific field and the fuzziness of the dividing lines between their agency. It is finally a chance to experiment with the applicability, adaptability and transferability of disciplinary knowledge.