Paper Titles & Abstracts

This article uses examples from ethnographic fieldwork to illuminate the critique that discourses and institutional practices on or with Roma minorities point to a problem with essentialist conceptualisations of who or what counts as 'Roma'. This article gives examples of how essentialist approaches are not only inadequate in dealing with on-the-ground diversities, but also have the potential to divide communities. In these examples, notions of authenticity, whilst serving a purpose in creating a strong voice (Spivak's 'strategic essentialism'), are naive about the impact of power relations and elitism, ignoring co-option by local elites, creating the further exclusion of marginal groups. This article argues that any studies working with discourses connected to 'Roma' in the current climate requires a careful de-essentialising of the debates but without losing sight of ethnicity, and offers an analytical framework that would be useful for anyone working with notions connected to 'Roma' in their work.