FROM VICTIMHOOD TO CITIZENSHIP - THE PATH OF ROMA INTEGRATION

This book is intended as an invitation and a challenge to all concerned with the situation of Roma to discuss crucial issues in order to clarify key concepts. Ideally such critical reflection will lead to the formulation and adoption of more effective strategies for resolving the seemingly intractable problems hindering Roma integration at a time when pro-Roma EU policies are facing ever-growing threats.This project evolved over a three-year period starting with the reflections of András Bíró, prompted by the disappointing results of over two decades of activism in the supposedly more liberal climate of post-Communist democracy. These thoughts in turn stimulated insightful responses from Nicolae Gheorghe and Martin Kovats. These authors do not shrink from expressing forthright views, as in discussing the apparent conflict between certain human rights values and what some regard as ‘traditional’ Roma culture and in exploring difficulties and ambiguities implicit in using the term ‘Roma’