Democratization in the Post-Communist Europe: A View From the Margins

• Authors: Sławomir Kapralski
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The article presents the attitudes of the Roma minority towards the postcommunist transformation in Poland in the broader context of Romani ethnic/political mobilization and transformations of Romani identities. The text outlines main differences between the present situation of the Roma in Poland and the way they were treated in the communist period. Differentiated attitudes of the Roma towards postcommunist transformation have been presented and interpreted in the context of the growing sense of insecurity, growing possibilities of self-organization, and difficulties with securing social integration. The texts presents also various forms of discrimination and marginalization the Roma face, with particular emphasis on decentralized physical violence and centralized semantic violence, which influence Romani strategies of survival and identity-building.

Keywords

EN

Roma; marginalization; inequality; security; violence; identity; postcommunist transformation

• Publisher: Polskie Towarzystwo Socjologiczne
• Journal: Polish Sociological Review
• Year: 2008
• Volume: 163
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 245-262

Dates

published

2008-09-16

Contributors

author

Sławomir Kapralski

• Warsaw School of Social Psychology