“The Roma in Europe: Issues in Representation and Politics”, organized by the University of St-Andrews (The British Academy) and the CNRS (Laboratoire d’anthropologie des institutions et des organisations sociales), Date: 2005/10/24 - 2005/10/25, Location: l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris
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Since the beginning of the 1990s there has been a growing movement of Romani activists who have sought to redress the problems that face the largely impoverished and marginalized Romani populations in Central Europe. They have found support from a large number of internationally active non-governmental organizations. Gradually, the situation of the Roma also attracted the attention of Europe-wide governmental organizations, in particular the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the European Union (EU). This paper seeks to find out how this new transnational space for discourse and action affected the development of the Romani movement in Central Europe. Has it created an international opportunity structure for Romani activism? And if so, what are the implications of this development for the current general perception of Romani identity in society.