ENVY, CORRUPTION AND ‘HARD RACISM’: STUDYING ANTIGYPSYISM AS AN IDEOLOGICAL FANTASY

• Authors: Walach Václav
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Antigypsyism has been frequently said to be a racist ideology. However, although some studies have engaged with the ‘racist’ component of the thesis, almost no work has been done in terms of specifying what ideology is and how a certain conception of it can enhance the understanding of antigypsyism both as a concept and empirical phenomenon. This paper explores the potential of the Lacanian theory of ideology as exemplified by Slavoj Žižek for developing antigypsyism research. Overcoming the problem of false consciousness, Žižek’s conception offers an analytical framework that allows re-examining and elaborating on certain issues from the perspective which weaves social and psychic realities without falling into the traps of psychological reductionism. To illustrate this, this paper presents a Žižekian analysis of three issues that correspond to different aspects of the antigypsyist phenomenon identified via ethnographic research among the non-Roma inhabitants of a declining neighbourhood with a significant Roma presence in Czechia. The issues are called envy, corruption and ‘hard racism’.

Keywords

EN

ANTI-GYPSYISM; ANTI-ROMA RACISM; ROMA; IDEOLOGICAL FANTASY; ŽIŽEK SLAVOJ; CZECHIA

• Publisher: Institute of Ethnology, Slovak Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Slovenský národopis (Slovak Ethnology)
• Year: 2020
• Volume: 68
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 324 – 339

Contributors

author

Walach Václav

• Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Na Příkopě 584/29, 110 00 Prague, Czech Republic

Identifiers

DOI

https://doi.org/10.2478/se-2020-0019