Migration

Fifty shades of racism, or the inclusion of Romani minorities in Europe

Julija Sardelić

Framing the position of Romani minorities in terms of social exclusion usually remains undisputed. It is also not questioned that social exclusion sometimes alludes that Romani minorities are themselves to blame for their position and now the wider society as their saviours has to work out how to integrate them.

In 1613, Miguel de Cervantes published Novelas Ejemplares, a collection of short stories. The first of these was entitled La Gitanilla or The Little Gypsy Girl. This story presented a narrative about a girl named Preciosa, who lived with the Gypsies and was considered to be the most beautiful among them.

Updated on: 14 November 2013

Managing migration through earned citizenship - the deserving and the others

Biljana Đorđević

While contracts have been largely examined as potential new form of discrimination or, somewhat less worrisome, as a communitarian technique, it may be that they can also be explained as a neoliberal device for privileging those who possess the right knowledge and skills for the market. They are the ‘deserving’ ones who have ‘earned’ citizenship. The others may earn their rights only by learning a language, understanding the shared values, and becoming as profitable labourers as possible. Neoliberalism first, communitarianism to follow.

A friend of mine has started learning German. In her own words, a book she has been using is rather unfriendly for language beginners, almost as if the aim of the creators of the book was to dissuade people from learning German.