Follow the money: international donors, external homelands and their effect on Romani media and advocacy

Plaut, Shayna

doi:10.1080/01419870.2017.1267377

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 17 publications

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“…The dynamics that cause many subaltern narratives to be systemically devalued also deprioritized the histories, experiences, and actions of Romani Germans (Ghosh 2005; Spivak 1988; Trehan 2009). Generally, Romani Germans in immediate postwar West Germany did not occupy powerful positions that would have caused their actions, words, and experiences to be recorded; instead, they were (and are) deliberately excluded and seen as “the other,” separate from West German society (Fings 2015; Plaut 2017). Then, as now, non‐Romani elites also tended to (falsely) view Sinti and Roma as unable to speak for themselves, which meant that these elites mostly did not listen to, let alone preserve, the words or actions of Romani people (Bundesarchiv 1982; Vlase and Voicu 2014).…”

Section: Who Is An Activist?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual legal action as minority activism: Romani Germans in 1950s West Germany

Greenstein

2024

Social Science Quarterly

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ObjectivesSocial movement theory argues that activist movements emerge when the political opportunity structure is favorable. This article contributes to the literature on social movements and minority activism by showing that individual‐level activism happens even without a favorable opportunity structure.MethodsThe legal journal Rechtsprechung zum Wiedergutmachungsrecht (Case Law on Reparations Legislation), published from 1949 to 1981, reported on West German courts’ decisions about reparations claims appeals. All issues were examined for decisions on reparations claims appeals that Romani Germans submitted regarding West Germany's 1953 federal reparations law, despite the unfavorable political opportunity structure. The number of these appeals is reported, and select cases are discussed.ResultsEvery time a Romani claimant appealed a denied reparations claim, they were, according to feminist definitions of everyday activism, committing an act of activism. Such appeals appear repeatedly in the Rechtsprechung zum Wiedergutmachungsrecht, demonstrating that if scholars look for activism at an individual level, not a group level, evidence shows that members of marginalized minority groups engage in activism regardless of the political opportunity structure.ConclusionsThese findings show that, if individual‐level activism is included in scholarly analyses, it becomes apparent that minority activism occurs even when the political opportunity structure is unfavorable.

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