Roma voices give new perspective on European history
While awareness and knowledge of Roma issues has increased over the past two decades, myths and stereotypes still persist. The history of the Roma between World War I and World War II, for example, has often been overlooked. “Roma were increasingly socially and politically active during this time, but are often seen only as passive recipients of policy measures,” explains RomaInterbellum project coordinator Elena Marushiakova from the University of St Andrews in the United Kingdom. “The fact that they were also active architects of their own lives is overlooked. In my project, I wanted to fill this gap.”
Roma contributions to political thought
RomaInterbellum, a European Research Council funded project, brought together scholars and collaborators with a range of skills. These included knowledge of local languages, including Romanes. “It was important to have the support of Roma communities,” adds Marushiakova. Roma sociopolitical visions were treated in the project as an inalienable part of the history of modern political thought in Europe. In-depth research involved numerous field visits to archives and libraries across central, eastern and south-eastern Europe. ‘Roma voices’ – source materials created by Roma themselves and the written heritage of leading Roma visionaries – were also identified. “The major innovative approach we took was understanding that Roma are not a hermetically isolated social and cultural system,” says Marushiakova. “They exist in two dimensions, both as separate ethnic communities and as a part of the macro-society in which they live within the respective nation states.” As members of the macro-society, Roma experienced the breakdowns of old Empires and the establishment of national states. They were involved in building new political systems across the vast territories that would become the Soviet Union.
Integration in social and political life
Marushiakova believes that the overarching goal of RomaInterbellum – to incorporate the history of Roma into the mainstream of European and global historiography – was achieved. The project was able to demonstrate the existence of ‘Roma voices’ in libraries and archives, contrary to the widespread belief that such voices did not exist. The discovery of thousands of documents helped to bring to life the active social and political participation of Roma during the interwar period, and underline their participation in social and political life. “These documents also helped to show the contradictory policies of individual countries towards Gypsies, as they were called at that time,” says Marushiakova. “Discriminatory and repressive measures were often combined with indifference and/or a paternalistic approach.”
Mainstreaming Roma history
The project represents an important step forward in overcoming the stereotypes and myths that have blighted interpretations of Roma history. This will allow for the emergence of Roma History as a field in its own right. “Our findings challenge the prevailing academic narratives up to now, which have presented the Roma as a disengaged, marginalised community,” notes Marushiakova. “Roma are actors in their own right, with their own views and visions.” In addition to moving academia and history as a discipline forward, Marushiakova also hopes that Roma communities worldwide will benefit from the work that has been done. “I hope that this project will break the vicious cycle of neglecting or denying Roma history,” adds Marushiakova. “Incorporating the history of Roma into the mainstream of European and global historiography will also help to perceive Roma communities as equal to all other populations in historical books and in real life today.”
Keywords
RomaInterbellum, Roma, Romanes, languages, stereotypes, history
