Critical Romani Studies

At present its members are working with:

• Romani enslavement, i.e. memorialisation and present-day consequences
• The Holocaust, i.e. comparisons on memorialisation and recognition of the Shoah and Porajmos/Samudaripen, Holocaust in education
• Antigypsyism/ anti-Romani racism, including its foundations and present-day manifestations
• Migration and social exclusion, i.e. Romani people experiencing rough sleeping/ vulnerable EU-citizens in Wester-European societies
• Education, i.e. Romani history in curricula and teaching, critique of the integration and inclusion paradigms
• Epistemic (in)justice and decoloniality, i.e. epistemic privilege, indigenous methodology, critical analysis of the research field of Romani Studies
• LGBTQI+ and feminism, i.e. intersectional perspectives on antigypsyism/ anti-Romani racism

The group works to bridge Critical Romani Studies with other relevant research fields, and comparative perspectives are employed in all the above. In the work on Romani enslavement and its memorialisation and consequences we particularly look to the Afro-American slavery. On the topic of racism and anti-racism, comparison is made with e.g. antisemitism, anti-Sami racism, islamophobia and afrophobia. In historical research parallels are drawn to broader discussions on processing of the past and restorative processes, and how this can be included in education.

The research group has an outspoken goal of contributing to the fight against antigypsyism/ anti-Romani racism within academia and beyond, and contribute to the realisation of human rights for Roma.