A Leftist Analyisis Of European Roma

[WelcomeToTheParty]

Recently I've become very interested in the situation of Roma groups in European societies and their fairly racist treatment by many otherwise good people. Generally these people complain that the Roma are uneducated, criminal, unclean, nusiances etc. and that their culture is just terrible. This is similar to the kind of things that people say about African Americans and while I've read plenty of rebuttals of those claims I'd be very interested to read something that would deal specifically with itinerant Roma.

I'd love some kind of analysis that would answer:


To what extent are Roma groups actually engaging in the anti-social activities they are accused of?
To the extent that they do engage in this behavior, what would a materialist analysis of the reasons they do so look like? (For example, how much of this behavior is a result of society that is openly hostile towards them, an exclusion from social services, or a result of poverty etc.)


I'd also be very interested in reading opinions or suggested literature on socialist policies towards itinerant Roma groups. I did a bit of digging that led me to read some of Lenin's writings on the National Question and about the Korenizatsiya policy of the USSR's early years and while that's been helpful I haven't been able to find anything specifically about nomadic groups.

Lenin's writings and early policies seem to suggest encouragement to settle without coercion would be the correct action, but if they are engaging in anti-social behavior what specific actions (addressing the causes of that behavior) should be taken? And if they choose to remain unsettled how should a socialist state interact with them?

[Tower of Bebel]

I would also like to know more about the Roma in Europe. The city I'm currently at has a sizable population of Roma ever since the inclusion of such countries like Slovakia and Bulgaria into the European Union. They are discriminated against by elements among both locals and minority groups suchs as the Bulgarians and the Turks.

The socialist respons, I guess, must be based first and foremost on the removal of legal restrictions, both national and European, on the freedom of labour and movement. The current situation, in which many restrictions are/were put on the freedoms/rights of Roma, contribute to illegality, criminality and poverty.

[radiocaroline]

horrific in Slovakia, they are segregated by walls from the rest of urban cities.

sounds similar to the ghettos in Nazi Europe, doesn't it?

why does the UN and EU let this happen without consequence...

as for the UK, the media just doing its usual job of stirring up racism and creating social hostility.

[DOOM]

Of course, Roma do these "anti-social" activities, like stealing or harassing.
But they're only doing it because we (especially in Ex-Yugoslavia) have oppressed them since like ever. You know, as a Roma one can't get proper education, one can't get a proper job, one can't get a wage great enough to actually have a kind of "good" living standard. Not to mention that most parents can't pay their children education. So many get involved in crime.
It's a bullshit situation and I feel fucking bad for them.