Constructing Identities over Time: “Bad Gypsies” and “Good Roma” in Russia and Hungary

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Constructing Identities over Time: “Bad Gypsies” and “Good Roma” in Russia and Hungary

by Jekatyerina Dunajeva

Central European University Press, 2022

ISBNs

Cloth: 978-963-386-415-9

eISBN: 978-963-386-689-4 (ePub)

eISBN: 978-963-386-416-6 (PDF)

About the Book

Jekatyerina Dunajeva explores how two dominant stereotypes—“bad Gypsies” and “good Roma”—took hold in formal and informal educational institutions in Russia and Hungary. She shows that over centuries “Gypsies” came to be associated with criminality, lack of education, and backwardness. The second notion, of proud, empowered, and educated “Roma,” is a more recent development.

By identifying five historical phases—pre-modern, early-modern, early and “ripe” communism, and neomodern nation-building—the book captures crucial legacies that deepen social divisions and normalize the constructed group images. The analysis of the state-managed Roma identity project in the brief korenizatsija program for the integration of non-Russian nationalities into the Soviet civil service in the 1920s is particularly revealing, while the critique of contemporary endeavors is a valuable resource for policy makers and civic activists alike.

The top-down view is complemented with the bottom-up attention to everyday Roma voices. Personal stories reveal how identities operate in daily life, as Dunajeva brings out hidden narratives and subaltern discourse. Her handling of fieldwork and self-reflexivity is a model of sensitive research with vulnerable groups.

About the Author

Jekatyerina Dunajeva is Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest.

Reviews

"Where the book by Jekatyerina Dunajeva differs from others is in its combination of historical and ethnographic study, in the richness of the material explored and analysed and in the ways in which it problematizes the very labels it analyses. The key strength of the book lies in its attempt to offer new and critical perspectives in the study of Roma identity and Roma ethnicity, over time. It thus provides a wonderful addition and contribution to the field of Romani Studies, while also being of interest to scholars of ethnicity, nationalism, European history and minorities more broadly."https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2022.2078390
-- Raluca Bianca Roman Ethnic and Racial Studies

"This is a profoundly interesting book, if also not, in its argumentation and conclusions, an especially original one. Written in an accessible style and intended for a general audience, Dunajeva’s monograph is based on a solid documentary base. Her ethnographic research in Roma communities makes the work a substantial contribution to Romani scholarship."
-- Steven Usitalo The Russian Review