Paper Titles & Abstracts

This paper begins from the assertion that social media networks play a crucial role in constructing 'truths' of Romani history, memory and culture. In particular, this paper is concerned with how web portals act as discursive interventions which construct Roma identity and create opportunities for social movement activists. As a transnational community with no territory and no common spoken language, social media networks are particularly important for Roma as they act as a nexus for information exchange and discussion. However, as Roma activists have harnessed social media in order to construct the validity of the Roma nation, this has raised a number of problems, notably how the target audience of these discursive interventions are not usually Roma themselves, but non-Roma. A related issue is that the historical truths of Roma culture are somewhat blurred and highly contested meaning no clear authority exists. This provides fertile ground for discursive institutionalism as Roma activists attempt to mediate, deliberate and attempt to own the truth of Roma nationalism. This paper explores the language used by Roma activists in constructing Roma nationalism in social media to highlight the contested historical truths of Roma memory, culture and identity.