Vol. 4 (190)

2023 (XLIX)

Publication date: 28.08.2024

Description

Cover photo: Małgorzata Mirga-Tas oraz Marcin Tas, technika mieszana, 2017

Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Editorial team

Sekretarz redakcji Kamil Łuczaj

Editor-in-Chief Jan Brzozowski

Thematic editors Elżbieta Mirga-Wójtowicz, Ignacy Jóźwiak, Monika I. Szewczyk, Sonia Styrkacz, Kamila Fiałkowska, Michał Garapich

Issue content

Gadzikano, Romano ciacipen, czyli w stronę dekolonizacji badań romologicznych

Elżbieta Mirga-Wójtowicz, Ignacy Jóźwiak, Monika I. Szewczyk, Sonia Styrkacz, Kamila Fiałkowska, Michał P. Garapich

Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, Vol. 4 (190), 2023 (XLIX), pp. 7-12

https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.23.037.19628

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Main section

Me som Rom, tumen san gadźe [1978]

Andrzej Mirga

Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, Vol. 4 (190), 2023 (XLIX), pp. 15-21

https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.23.038.19629

The following article by Andrzej Mirga is republished from a special issue of ‘Etnografia Polska’ journal 22(2) 1978 devoted to Roma (at that time consistently referred to as ‘Gypsies’) and Romani studies. The author presents the image of the non-Roma people widespread among the Carpathian Roma – inhabitants of a Roma settlement in the Polish Spiš region. The argumentation is based on the dichotomy ‘Rom – Gadjo’. The article is published with the permission of the Author and the editors of ‘Etnografia Polska’.

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Nowoczesność, kolonializm i Zagłada Romów

Sławomir Kapralski

Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, Vol. 4 (190), 2023 (XLIX), pp. 23-45

https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.23.039.19630

The article presents the relationship between European colonialism, the modernization of European society and the Nazi persecution of the Roma as a cause and effect relationship, in which the result of the interaction between colonialism and modernization was the phenomenon of “internal colonialism”: the application of racist colonial policy to some minorities existing within European societies, including Roma. The author’s intention was to apply Hannah Arendt’s concept of the “boomerang effect” to the situation of the Roma, a concept that worked particularly well when applied to Germany, where internal colonialism compensated for the loss of overseas colonies after World War I. Using the boomerang effect in the context of the project of modern society, one can better understand various forms of anti-Roma policy: forced assimilation, exclusion, the mechanism of scapegoating and substitute victim. The colonial sources of anti-Roma violence are also becoming visible: from negative stereotyping, through racial segregation, to concentration camps and extermination. The author is of the opinion that decolonization of the Roma Studies requires a deeper reflection on the colonial sources of anti-Roma policy.

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Romska pozycjonalność (positionality) – subiektywne doświadczenia Romów a dyskurs akademicki

Anna Mirga-Kruszelnicka

Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, Vol. 4 (190), 2023 (XLIX), pp. 47-63

https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.23.040.19631

The field commonly known as Romani Studies has been monopolized for decades almost entirely by non-Romani researchers and, consequently, has been written from an outsider’s perspective, from the standpoint of the majority culture. However, there is currently a significant increase in the number of Romani academics who critically assess the body of research on the Roma and simultaneously lay the foundations of so-called Critical Romani Studies. This situation inevitably leads to questioning the relationship between the researcher and the researched and negotiating the position of the Romani scholar writing from a minority perspective.

In this article, I discuss the potential of positionality theory and its added value for the development of Romani Studies. Referring to the scholarly achievements of representatives of other minorities or peripheral communities (or as Gayatri Spivak calls them – subalterns), I will present the challenges and opportunities faced by minority researchers in negotiating the multiple roles arising from their status as „outsiders within” (Collins 1986) and how they can be applied in Romani Studies. I conclude that the synthesis of life experience, academic education, and adherence to high standards in the research process, which many Romani scholars possess, constitutes an added value for the development of Romani Studies, enriching it with the necessary diversity of perspectives and voices.

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Czy Bóg to Gadzio? Religijność i konwersje polskich Romów w perspektywie elastycznych epistemologii romskości

Michał P. Garapich

Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, Vol. 4 (190), 2023 (XLIX), pp. 65-87

https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.23.041.19632

The article is an anthropological analysis of religious conversions among Polish Roma. Through pioneering ethnographic work among transnational Roma communities, the article takes a critical approach to contemporary analysis of religious lives of Roma in Polish scholarship. Following the relational approach of Frederik Barth, Michael Stewart and participatory ethnography of Paloma Gay y Blasco, the article proposes an ethnographically grounded interpretation of new forms of religiosity among Polish Roma emphasizing individual agency, creativity and the so called by Marco Solimene and Stefanii Pontrandolfo flexible epistemologies, through which we can better grasp overall social changes in Poland.

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Między strukturą a sprawczością – źródła i konsekwencje kolektywizmu migracji Romów

Elżbieta Mirga-Wójtowicz

Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, Vol. 4 (190), 2023 (XLIX), pp. 89-110

https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.23.042.19633

Currently, there is an increasing interest among researchers in the emigration from Poland not only of ethnic Poles, but also of minorities – Jews, Germans, Silesians, and Ukrainians. Despite considerable interest from researchers in the Roma minority in Poland in areas related to integration, education, social advancement, or exclusion, particularly in the context of European Union policy, until recently, little attention was paid to the topic of migration of Polish Roma. The text presented analyzes these migratory processes over several decades and points out changes occurring among Polish Roma as a result of migration to the West, mainly to Great Britain. I focus on the concept of migratory collectivism, which in the context of discussions around the structure and functioning has, in my opinion, good explanatory value in explaining why and how Roma migrated in a specific way to Western European countries since the early 1990s. As I indicate, migratory collectivism is a type of informal structure that emerged in the process of structuration and a type of response and agentive reaction of Roma to the mechanisms of exclusion and securitization of migration.

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Romsko-gadziowskie związki. Analiza i negocjowanie granic etnicznych

Sonia Styrkacz

Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, Vol. 4 (190), 2023 (XLIX), pp. 111-138

https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.23.043.19634

This article focuses on the analysis of culturally mixed relationships, using the example of Romani-Gadjo (non-Romani) relationships. The aim is to explore, analyze, and deconstruct stereotypes and understand the perspectives of individuals involved in such relationships or opting out of them, with a particular emphasis on the Romani community. The analysis includes examining the motivations and challenges associated with participating in or disengaging from such relationships. As part of the decolonization of research, this work seeks to dismantle certain cognitive structures concerning the understanding of Romani-Gadjo relationships by the mainstream society, offering a more complex and nuanced perspective. In this sense, decolonization implies a conscious approach to exploring diversity and deeply rooted connections between the Romani and Gadjo communities at large. The author develops her arguments using empirical research findings (surveys, in-depth interviews), contributing to a more empathetic and scientifically grounded understanding of the discussed relationships.

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Korkore pał peste – Sami o sobie. Romska historia powojennych migracji wewnętrznych polskich Romów Karpackich

Monika I. Szewczyk

Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, Vol. 4 (190), 2023 (XLIX), pp. 139-162

https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.23.044.19635

The presented article will address the issues of internal migration of the Carpathian Roma after World War II in Poland. They will be shown from the Roma perspective, thus becoming part of decolonisation processes. I understand decolonisation in this perspective as listening to the voices of the native population, negating the superiority and reversing the nationalistic history in which there is no place for ethnic minorities. Hence, the article is mainly based on the concept of oral history, which gives the Roma the opportunity to construct their own narrative about themselves in public and academic spaces. On the basis of autoethnography, as well as ethnographic and archival research I have conducted, the article will present two waves of internal migration of Polish Carpathian Roma. Voluntary migration to Nowa Huta of an economic nature, linked to the urbanisation and industrialisation of the country. From the point of view of a person immersed in Roma culture, this migration is uncritically and stereotypically reproduced. The second type of migration is forced migration, related to the resettlement of the Carpathian Roma during the Operation Vistula to the Western and Northern Territories. The history of these resettlements is absent from narratives about the post-1947 social landscape in Poland, just as the history of their residence in the area of the present-day Podkarpackie Voivodeship is little known.

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Tematy nieoczywiste. Obecność i działalność Romów Karpackich w budowie Nowej Huty na podstawie Kroniki Nowej Huty, analizy zawartości gazety „Budujemy Socjalizm” z lat 1950–1957 oraz wybranej, tematycznej literatury najnowszej

Magdalena Machowska

Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, Vol. 4 (190), 2023 (XLIX), pp. 163-198

https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.23.045.19636

An article based on qualitative and visual analysis of the newspaper “We Build Socialism” from 1950–1956 presents the little-known participation of the Carpathian Roma in constructing the socialist city of Nowa Huta near Kraków. The deconstruction of the time-colonial perspective leads to the conclusion that the Roma community was described in objectified and racial terms, highlighting its antisocial traits, except for a few men and women who were attributed with the ideological identity of the socialist worker, an exemplary worker fulfilling the economic plan of the People’s Republic of Poland through above-average effort.

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O romską historię polskich metropolii: Szkice etnograficzne z Warszawy

Ignacy Jóźwiak

Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, Vol. 4 (190), 2023 (XLIX), pp. 199-211

https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.23.046.19637

The article deals with two interrelated topics, these are: the (under)representation of Roma in research on the history and contemporaneity of Polish cities and the positionality of the ‘external’ Researcher among the Roma communities. Its general thesis also stands as a case for a Roma history of Warsaw. The latter is perceived not only as history and contemporaneity of the Roma in the capital city, but also as a look at the history of Warsaw and at the recently observed social processes through the prism of Roma history and contemporaneity. The article is based on field research among Roma communities in Warsaw (Ursus and Praga Południe districts). It addresses the following topics: post-war settlement in the capital city of Poland, work in industry with the use of traditional craft skills (boilermaking) and outmigration. The whole work is of an ‘exploratory’ nature: it identifies research issues and sets out a trajectory for further research.

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„Osoby niepożądane” w relacjach polsko-szwedzkich. „Może tu chodzić o Cyganów”

Kamila Fiałkowska

Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, Vol. 4 (190), 2023 (XLIX), pp. 213-232

https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.23.047.19638

The article focuses on a lesser-known aspect of the history of Polish migration to Sweden, considering the consequences of the 1981 pogrom in Oświęcim, which resulted in the eviction of a group of Polish Roma from Poland and their simultaneous deprivation of {Polish citizenship. This littleknown migration episode, analysed using documents gathered in the archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MSZ), forms the basis for the analysis and discussion of the processes of racializing so-called “undesirable persons.” The author places these considerations in the context of centurieslong actions by states and their violence against Roma communities. Additionally, the article References literature on the problematization of Roma migration in Europe. The text expands knowledge about institutional practices towards Polish Roma, considering them as a systemically marginalized community against which the state tested various tools of oppression, stigmatization, and exclusion from the community of citizens.

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Klasa i tożsamość. Różnice etniczne i socjoekonomiczne wykluczenie w budowaniu wspólnoty

Hubert Mikołaj Tubacki

Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, Vol. 4 (190), 2023 (XLIX), pp. 233-268

https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.23.048.19639

In the text, the author, analyzing the processes of alienation and exclusion of residents of a fragment of a gentrified neighborhood, considers what role class and race play in this process. In addition to economic and class exclusion, the key terms for the author are alienation (othering) and racialization (racialization), together they set the conceptual framework for the analysis. Based on six months of ethnographic research, the author confronts perceptions about the ghetto with the relations found inside. He describes the formation of a local identity based on shared exclusion and opposition to denunciation and cooperation with state officials. Analyzing the role of local identity juxtaposed with Polishness and Romaniness, the author shows how these imagined communities are negotiated and how their role changes depending on the contexts. Following Marianne Gullestad, the author considers the influence of strongly rhetorical terms, e.g. Gypsy, Roma, on the processes analyzed. At the same time, he recognizes secondary exclusion resulting from targeting aid programs along ethnic lines rather than on the basis of community needs. The text also presents examples of positive, partly grassroots, actions to reduce the scale of exclusion, which include the problem of inadequate redistribution to local conditions.

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Słuchać, uczestniczyć, nie oceniać. Z perspektywy uczestniczki romsko-gadziowskiego zespołu badawczego

Alina Doboszewska

Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, Vol. 4 (190), 2023 (XLIX), pp. 269-281

https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.23.049.19640

The article refers to a series of projects on Roma professions carried out for both research and activist purposes by the Krakow-based Dobra Wola Foundation. The author describes her way to take up the Roma topic and the problems involved, referring to the method of autoethnography and engaged anthropology. Three aspects are very important in such research: the ability to go beyond the hierarchy of power in the researcher-respondent relationship, the maintenance of appropriate ethical standards and the awareness of social responsibility when adopting an activist perspective. To what extent was this achieved during the activities carried out by the project team? What were their strengths and what went wrong and where were mistakes made? How do the research team organise and carry out the activities to avoid subjecting the people being researched? There are no simple answers to these and similar questions, but they are worth looking at in order to stimulate reflection by both male and female researchers and activists working in the Roma community, as well as other ethnic or minority groups in Poland.

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Reviews, discussions, polemics

Laboratorium sztuki, laboratorium fikcji. Potencjał wystawy Małgorzaty Mirgi-Tas do zmiany dydaktycznego paradygmatu

Maria Szoska

Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, Vol. 4 (190), 2023 (XLIX), pp. 285-303

https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.23.050.19641

The article introduces a look at the artistic activity of Małgorzata Mirga-Tas as a Romani feminist, activist, politically involved author (in the sense of politics given to her by Jacques Rancière) and at the same time reading her work as a potential for humane education, especially Polish studies. As the author of the article shows, the categories used by Rancière to describe the public sphere, especially making the world visible, the reconfiguration of perceptible division are didactic.

The article reviews textbooks for the Polish language, pointing to the absence of Romani authors and Romani issues. The recognized emptiness could be filled by the creative biography of Mirga-Tas because for the artist creating within the professional world of art, her identity is not a burden but a forming element and a source of inspiration.

The potential of the exhibition “Re-enchanting the world” would allow to break the didactic discourse manifested in empathic gypsiology and on the other hand, narrowing the Romani subject to the pedagogisation of social problems presented in the perspective of Pierre Bourdieu’s habitus. According to the author of the text, the Mirga-Tas’ exhibition at Venice Biennale is a laboratory of potential history which can become a space for experimenting with fiction and life at the lesson, provided that a pedagogical strategy of political voice is adopted.

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Spowiedź (byłego?) kolonizatora – Prolegomena

Adam Bartosz

Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, Vol. 4 (190), 2023 (XLIX), pp. 305-330

https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.23.051.19642

The author is an experienced researcher of the Roma community, which has been – among the others – the field of his study for over the last half a century. Speaking from this position, he attempts to respond to the process of decolonization of Romological research, practiced in recent years. Having noticed a number of typically colonizing elements in his own research practice, he raises questions about both the ethical and substantive assessments of this activity. He also points to the – unconscious (?) – continuation of colonization practices carried out by contemporary critics of the research, applied to Romani studies by the former colonizers.

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Nomadyzm jako stereotyp? Prace artystów o romskich korzeniach tworzone w odniesieniu

Monika Weychert

Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, Vol. 4 (190), 2023 (XLIX), pp. 331-343

https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.23.052.19643

In the article, the author attempts to highlight how the stereotype of “Romani nomadism” continues to shape the perception of contemporary individuals of Romani descent and contributes to the negation of the historical experiences of this ethnic group in favor of biologizing its characteristics and behaviors. This has catastrophic consequences, such as the differential application of legal regulations against the Roma (rulings made to their disadvantage). The article presents examples of the biographies of Romani activists and artists and their migrations during the Balkan War, migrations during the political-economic-social transformation of the 1990s in Europe, and even migrations from the time of the abolition of Roma slavery in the territories of present-day Romania and Moldova.

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Jerzego Ficowskiego cyganologia poetycka: refleksje na marginesie książki Emilii Kledzik Perspektywa poety. Cyganologia Jerzego Ficowskiego

Sławomir Kapralski

Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, Vol. 4 (190), 2023 (XLIX), pp. 345-361

https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.23.053.19644

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„O Infamii” parę słów

Sonia Styrkacz

Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, Vol. 4 (190), 2023 (XLIX), pp. 363-368

https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.23.054.19645

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