Paper Titles & Abstracts

This presentation examines the processes of political participation that have been sparked in Italy by the "EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020". The Italian government has responded to the challenges set out in the Framework document by drawing up a national strategy in dialogue between various ministries, local authorities, NGOs and - for the first time ever at the national level - representatives of Roma, Sinti and Caminanti communities. In this paper we aim to answer the following questions: a) What processes led to certain Roma groups and individuals participating in the national strategy negotiations and were other interests and perspectives excluded? b) To what extent did a debate develop between the different Roma representatives on the best political strategies and routes to inclusion and did such debates reflect divergent interpretations of Romani identity resulting in a de-ethnicizing agenda on the one hand and identity politics on the other? c) To what extent do the EU integration goals reflect/intersect with the priorities and interests expressed by the representatives working in the Italian context? The research project uses in-depth interviews with the Roma representatives involved in these national-level negotiations, as well as non-Roma participants. It also analyzes documents related to these negotiations and their outcomes.