Ethnic Mobilization without Prerequisites: The East European Gypsies

Barany, Zoltán

doi:10.1353/wp.2002.0006

Cited by 26 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…With these words and those of the following interview, Clara refers to the fact -like Herbert Gans (2007) that social mobility and assimilation must be observed as differentiated elements but with connections and separations between both processes. These words openly question the conclusions of some research on the Romani people who have clearly associated both concepts (Barany 1998, 2001, 2002, Koulish 2005. For Clara, a 50-year-old woman who works in a non-profit foundation, her ties of family and friendship in the Romani world are an essential part of her life, 'without them I wouldn't be the same'.…”

Section: The Selective Acculturation Pathmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Barany (1998Barany ( , 2001Barany ( , 2002 and Koulish (2005), Romani identity is particularly vulnerable to upward mobility. Barany describes how Romani people lose their identity and try to assimilate to the majority society when they obtain 'white collar' jobs and university studies.…”

Section: Assimilation and Mobility In The Romà Casementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Taking this reality as a starting point, the fieldwork examined how, from the availability of these ethnic networks of support, two differentiated situations were identified that are experienced by these 'everyday life' Romà in their daily lives. Barany (1998Barany ( , 2001Barany ( , 2002 and others (such as Koulish 2005) argued that the educated Romà are an elite, distant from 'the uneducated and often apathetic ordinary Gypsies' (Barany 2002, p. 204). They also would tend to identify less as Romà as soon as they became wealthy and were upwardly mobile.…”

Section: The Selective Acculturation Pathmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Overcoming the odds: constricted ethnicity in middle-class Romà

2012

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How are different ethnic groups dealing with upward social mobility and assimilation? This is a large question that social research has tried to address in recent decades. In the United States, this issue has been framed by the theory of segmented assimilation. In Europe, regarding the Romà, the assumption still exists that upward mobility paths are intrinsically associated with a loss of ethnic identity, due to a process of full acculturation to the mainstream. In this article, through an analysis of 48 in-depth interviews with middle-class Romà in Spain, we identify other mobility paths, such as selective acculturation, that exist in addition to full acculturation. In this sense, we observe how symbolic differences exist between those middle-class Romà who live in an ethnic enclave and have a strong network of support and those who do not. In most cases, middle-class Romà tend to live outside the enclave and experience what we have called constricted ethnicity. IntroductionResearch on middle-class Romà is scarce and most of the existing inquiries have been influenced by the canonical view of assimilation. It is assumed that if a Romani person earns a college degree and then enters into a liberal profession they will tend to abandon their community of origin and identity, embracing a process of full acculturation to the mainstream. The research carried out aimed to observe whether this situation was the reality among middle-class Romà in Spain. In order to adequately frame these processes it is necessary, first, to carry out an analysis of previous literature on the upward social mobility and assimilation of different ethnic groups in America and on the case of the Romà in Europe. Despite the differences between national contexts, there are common aspects in the social mobility processes of several ethnic minorities that should be pointed out and that can contribute to the current theoretical framework. Later, we will present our methodology and an analysis of the fieldwork where evidence was gathered on how stereotypes can influence assimilation processes and the social mobility of individuals. We will then discuss, at greater length, the main part of this study which focuses on the selective acculturation path and constricted ethnicity. The objective

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Section: The Selective Acculturation Pathmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Assimilation and Mobility In The Romà Casementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Selective Acculturation Pathmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Overcoming the odds: constricted ethnicity in middle-class Romà

2012

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“…These tended to create conflicts within parties, between the local and national levels. The relatively small size of the Roma population, its institutional fragmentation (Barany 2002) and its geographical dispersion meant that Roma‐related issues received little attention at national levels and permitted discontinuity between individualist rhetoric among top officials and a more exclusivist view at lower levels. In the 2000s, a less individualist Social Democratic government accepted EU accession conditions through minor practical concessions on minority language and culture but did little to increase overall emphasis on pluralism, particularly toward Roma (Sobotká 2008).…”

Section: Cultural Rights and Policies In Political Debatementioning

confidence: 99%

Liberalism and cultural claims in Central and Eastern Europe: toward a pluralist balance†

Csergő

Deegan‐Krause

2010

Nations and Nationalism

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This article relies on cases from new EU member states in postcommunist Europe to integrate two overlapping debates about majority-minority relations. Since the Second World War, political theorists and international institutions have tended to discourage group-rights approaches in favour of individual rights; meanwhile, policy-makers who achieved interethnic peace in postcommunist Europe have often opted for group-rights approaches. On the basis of political theory, international norms and the conduct of political elites in this region, we argue that both the individual-rights and group-rights approaches can be differentiated internally along the dimension of pluralism -that is, their willingness to accommodate multiple processes of cultural reproduction. Moreover, both group-rights and individual-rights approaches can offer justifications for restricting minority cultural opportunities; furthermore, restrictive group-rights approaches sometimes cloak their efforts behind 'Western-sounding' individual-rights rhetoric. Likewise, both group-rights and individual-rights approaches can permit group accommodation that can lead to political integration. We find that de facto pluralist approaches to minority accommodationoften spearheaded by moderate parties of the majority in coalition with minoritygroup parties -encourage ethnic peace, regardless of their foundation in individual or group rights.

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“…Unlike the primordialists, therefore, modernists underscore the role of ethnic leadership-political and religious leaders, business leaders, and the intelligentsia. As mobilizers and representatives in ethnic-state relations, ethnic community leaders serve as the formal and informal linkage between the community and the ruling parties and governmental institutions by contributing to conflict management, political legitimacy, and stability (Esman and Rabinovich 1988, 20-2;Barany 2002;Nagel and Olzak 1982;Olzak 1983). Conversely, where representation fails to address grievances and rectify injustices, they may "politicize ethnic identity" and challenge the legitimacy of the ruling government (Burg 1990, 25;Gurr and Harff 1994).…”

Section: Diasporan Subalternities: a Theoretical Adjustmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diasporan Subalternities: The Armenian Community in Syria

Payaslian¹

2007

dsp

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This article offers an account of Syria’s substantial Armenian diasporic community, concentrating on how it negotiated its integration without assimilation into the larger Syrian society (itself not homogeneous but long dominated by a single political system). The analysis relies on themes and approaches developed by subaltern studies; ideas drawn from it enable us to delineate the trajectory of the diasporan community. Successfully maintaining its distinct cultural identity as a result of the closed nature of the political system, and further buttressed by the religio-cultural barriers between the Armenian Christian community and the Arab Muslim dominant groups, this community has nevertheless accepted permanent subalternization; it has failed to develop its full potential in cultural creativity and political confidence. Neither the technological nor the economic forces emanating from globalization, despite the liberalization policies pursued under the Asad governments, have proved sufficient to change the closed nature of the Syrian political economy. The permanent peripheralization of the Armenians in Syria has meant that they either dwell voicelessly in the realm of diasporan subalternities or exit. The community has declined, in terms of both numbers and vitality, since the early 1960s. This article proposes a theoretical framework that combines studies of diasporan transformation and Albert Hirschman’s analysis of “voice, exit, and loyalty” in order to develop a more complete picture of the evolution of an exilic community into a diasporic community and, finally, its decline and potential dissolution.

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Ethnic Mobilization without Prerequisites: The East European Gypsies

Cited by 26 publications

References 17 publications

Overcoming the odds: constricted ethnicity in middle-class Romà

Overcoming the odds: constricted ethnicity in middle-class Romà

Liberalism and cultural claims in Central and Eastern Europe: toward a pluralist balance†

Diasporan Subalternities: The Armenian Community in Syria

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