Hearing The Voices Of Gypsy Roma And Traveller Communities

Over the past decade, interest in Gypsies, Roma and Travellers (GRT) has risen up the political and media agendas, but they remain relatively unknown. This topical book is the first to chart the history and contemporary developments in GRT community activism, and the community and voluntary organisations and coalitions which support it. Underpinned by radical community development and equality theories, it describes the communities' struggle for rights against a backdrop of intense intersectional discrimination across Europe, and critiques the ambivalent role of community development in fostering these campaigns. Much of it co-written by community activists, it is a vehicle for otherwise marginalised voices, and an essential resource and inspiration for practitioners, lecturers, researchers and members of GRT communities.

Over the past decade, interest in Gypsies, Roma and Travellers (GRT) has risen up the political and media agendas, but they remain relatively unknown. This topical book is the first to chart the history and contemporary developments in GRT community activism, and the community and voluntary organisations and coalitions which support it. Underpinned by radical community development and equality theories, it describes the communities' struggle for rights against a backdrop of intense intersectional discrimination across Europe, and critiques the ambivalent role of community development in fostering these campaigns. Much of it co-written by community activists, it is a vehicle for otherwise marginalised voices, and an essential resource and inspiration for practitioners, lecturers, researchers and members of GRT communities.

Essential reading for those who want to develop greater knowledge and awareness of the history, culture and lifestyles of GRT people. There are many misconceptions about the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in the UK and Ireland. Little is understood of their culture and they are often marginalised by society. This book dispels many of the myths and gives a compassionate and empathetic view of the daily struggles they face including discrimination, racism and poverty. It also reviews criticisms directed at them and determines whether these are justified. Services are analysed to establish what works and what is weak. Packed with expert opinions from professionals working in the field and case studies and vignettes, garnered from personal interviews by the author with GRT people. Drawing from a wide range of perspectives from both inside and outside the respective communities, this book provides readers with all the key elements required to gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of these remarkable communities and their cultures.

In the past decade community groups have been portrayed as the solution to many social problems. Yet the role of ‘below the regulatory radar’ community action has received little research attention and thus is poorly understood in terms of both policy and practice. Focusing on self-organised community activity, this book offers the first collection of papers developing theoretical and empirically grounded knowledge of the informal, unregistered, yet largest, part of the voluntary sector. The collection includes work from leading academics, activists, policy makers and practitioners offering a new and coherent understanding of community action ‘below the radar’. The book is part of the Third Sector Research Series which is informed by research undertaken at the Third Sector Research Centre, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and Barrow Cadbury Trust.

This book calls for a re-thinking of educational provision for Gypsy / Traveller communities. Despite having been recognised by the government and educational providers for over fifty years, underachievement of children from Gypsy / Traveller communities persists. Rather than focusing specifically on access, attendance and attainment, the author provides a structural analysis of the cultural tensions that often exist between Nomadic communities and current school provision based on the interests and values of Sedentarism. The author uses spatial theory as a base upon which to build knowledge and understanding of the educational exclusion of children from Gypsy / Traveller communities, highlighting the social role that space plays within schools. This innovative book will be of interest and value for students and scholars interested in not only education and Gypsy / Traveller communities, but education for minority communities more widely.

Gypsies and Travellers have often been overlooked as victims of hate crime and discrimination. This book redresses that exclusion by shining a light on the harms of hate experienced by Gypsies and Travellers in the UK. In doing so James explores how hate permeates all aspects of their lives and identifies the hate crimes, incidents, and speech that they are subject to. It goes on to explore how hate against Gypsies and Travellers occurs as discrimination, social exclusion and criminalisation and how that hate is embedded within the language and practice of neoliberal capitalism. This book provides new insights to critical criminology and ways of understanding hate by using the critical hate studies perspective to gain a full appreciation of the harms of hate. As a consequence of this, the book is able to do justice to Gypsies' and Travellers' experiences of hate by extrapolating how harms manifest and the impact they have on Gypsies’ and Travellers’ social and personal identities. The book explains and acknowledges how hate harms imbue Gypsies' and Travellers' daily lives, including common events of serious abuse and assault, regular ill-treatment in provision of services, and everyday micro-aggressions. It argues hate experienced by Gypsies and Travellers can only be fully recognised through an analysis of the neoliberal capitalist context within which it occurs and the harmful subjective experience it engenders. The author’s expertise in this area, having carried out research with Gypsies and Travellers for 25 years, underpins the book with excellent empirical knowledge and research-informed discussion.

Understanding how to work with racially and ethnically diverse populations is crucial to effective social work practice and planning, and it will only become more so as society continues to become more diverse. This textbook brings together academics and practitioners, who draw on real-life scenarios and detailed case studies to help social workers consider the many dimensions of working in a diverse society and to enable them to uncover innovative, well-tailored ways to ensure successful delivery of essential services.

This open access volume provides an understanding of the different aspects of success, school continuity and social mobility among European Roma, including the motives justifying the high rates of school dropout and failure among this group. It offers a critical and reflexive perspective about social reality from a multidisciplinary and transversal point of view, sharing knowledge and practices in different countries about the articulations between Roma families, individuals, school and public policies. Over time, there has been an increase in the educational attainment of European citizens, but there are still persistent inequalities between Roma and non-Roma, including gender inequalities, which greatly affect Roma women. The volume explores the issue of Roma education and includes chapters from Western European, South and Central and Eastern European researchers using different theoretical and methodological perspectives. The intersection of this diversity and plurality of standpoints makes possible to obtain a comprehensive view on the education and schooling of European Roma.