Karolinum Press, Charles University
The Roma as Agents of the “G*psy Question”
Belonging, Mobility, and Resettlement Policy in Socialist Czechoslovakia in the 1960s
9788024660523
Distributed for Karolinum Press, Charles University
The Roma as Agents of the “G*psy Question”
Belonging, Mobility, and Resettlement Policy in Socialist Czechoslovakia in the 1960s
Reexamines mid-60’s state policies toward Czechoslovak Roma from the overlooked perspective of the Roma people themselves.
The story of Romani people in communist Czechoslovakia has long been framed by a discriminatory policy of assimilation, and thus by fatal interventions into Romani family ties and their broader socio-cultural systems. Paradoxically, such a narrative failed to integrate the perspective of the Roma themselves, who often associated the same period with an unprecedented experience of social inclusion and material security. In this book, Jan Ort examines the state policy that in the mid-1960s aimed at the definitive elimination of "G*psy backwardness" through the placement of thousands of Roma families in non-Roma society, thus becoming a symbol of the social engineering interventions of the Communist regime in the lives of Czechoslovak Roma. In contrast to the predominant focus on the perspective of state authorities, Ort seeks to map the practice of this policy in specific places with an emphasis on the experiences and agency of the Roma themselves, especially those who had their homes in eastern Slovakia. In the empirical richness of a micro-historical approach, Roma as Agents of the “G*psy Question” uncovers the diverse stories of ordinary Roma who were able to incorporate various aspects of state policy into their own lives without necessarily giving up their distinctive cultural identity.
The story of Romani people in communist Czechoslovakia has long been framed by a discriminatory policy of assimilation, and thus by fatal interventions into Romani family ties and their broader socio-cultural systems. Paradoxically, such a narrative failed to integrate the perspective of the Roma themselves, who often associated the same period with an unprecedented experience of social inclusion and material security. In this book, Jan Ort examines the state policy that in the mid-1960s aimed at the definitive elimination of "G*psy backwardness" through the placement of thousands of Roma families in non-Roma society, thus becoming a symbol of the social engineering interventions of the Communist regime in the lives of Czechoslovak Roma. In contrast to the predominant focus on the perspective of state authorities, Ort seeks to map the practice of this policy in specific places with an emphasis on the experiences and agency of the Roma themselves, especially those who had their homes in eastern Slovakia. In the empirical richness of a micro-historical approach, Roma as Agents of the “G*psy Question” uncovers the diverse stories of ordinary Roma who were able to incorporate various aspects of state policy into their own lives without necessarily giving up their distinctive cultural identity.
266 pages | 5.67 x 8.07 | © 2024
Anthropology: Cultural and Social Anthropology
Political Science: Race and Politics
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments 9
Introduction 11
0.1 The Roma of Kapišová 13
0.1.1
Agency, continuity, discontinuity 15
0.2 The Roma in Czechoslovakia and Policies towards G*psies 16
0.2.1
Resettlement policy 19
0.3 Reflections on the Resettlement Policy and Practice 23
0.3.1
Post-revolutionary reflections in Czech
and Slovak historiography 24
0.3.2
Localised studies 27
0.3.3
The resettlement policy in the new narrative
of Romani history 31
0.4 Roma as an Integral Part of Society 32
0.4.1
Regional and sub-ethnic outline of research interest 33
0.4.2
Terminology 34
0.4.3
Structure of the book 37
1. CHAPTER ONE
Romani Agency, Anthropology and History 42
1.1 Ways of Studying Agency 45
1.1.1
Margins as a starting point for analysis 45
1.1.2
Dominance and resistance 47
1.1.3
Negotiating marginalisation 50
1.1.4
The social position and identity of the Roma
in Central Europe 52
1.1.5
Anthropology, history and studies of agency 55
1.1.6
The question of representativeness 58
1.2 Methodology 60
1.2.1
Oral history 61
1.2.2
Research into the practice of the resettlement policy 63
1.2.3
Oral history and collaborative research 65
1.3 The Ethical Dimension of Research 71
2. CHAPTER TWO
Who Counts as a G*psy? 73
2.1 Discourse of G*psyness 75
2.1.1
Official categorisation 75
2.1.2
Racism as an obstacle to re-education 79
2.1.3
“In the interests of all” 84
2.1.4
“Let the councillors house them in their own home” 88
2.1.5
Disrupting the homogenous image of G*psyness? 92
2.1.6
The figure of the “respectable G*psy” 95
2.1.7
Reflections upon the limits of social acceptance 98
2.2 Roma and G*psies in Brekov 101
2.2.1
The story of the exceptional Roma of Brekov 101
2.2.2
Attitudes of the Brekov Roma in documents of the time 104
2.2.3
The social position of the Roma in Brekov 109
2.2.4
“Local” and “foreign G*psies” 111
2.2.5
Displacement of a foreign G*psy 115
2.2.6
Eviction as a resolution of local conflicts 119
2.3 Conclusion 125
3. CHAPTER THREE
The Settlements: Between Marginalisation and Autonomy 130
3.1 Central and Regional Policies towards the Settlements 133
3.2 Discourse of the G*psy Settlements 135
3.2.1
The logic of “liquidation” 135
3.2.2
The settlements as a locus of Romani culture? 137
3
.2.3 Marginalisation, stigmatisation, belonging 139
3.3 Disposal of the Settlements in the Former District of Humenné 142
3.3.1
The position of the local authorities 145
3.3.2
“Successful liquidation”: the settlement in Lubiša 147
3.3.3
Disposal of the settlement in the village of Papín 151
3.4 Podskalka: Between Marginalisation and Autonomy 156
3.4.1
Relocate, build or liquidate? 157
3.4.2
Self-governing Podskalka? 161
3.4.3
The position of the Roma 163
3.4.4
Buying up the shacks 166
3.4.5
Elemír T.: From Podskalka to the town 167
3.4.6
František B: A shack to be liquidated? 170
3.4.7
Who benefitted from the “G*psy policy”? 173
3.4.8
The reproduction of territorialisation 174
3.5 Conclusion 176
7
4. CHAPTER FOUR
Resettlement, Migration, Dispersion: Movement Control
and Agentive Strategies 180
4.1 Genesis of the Resettlement Policy 183
4.2 The Discourse of “Dispersion” 187
4.2.1
Complaints regarding restrictions on movement 188
4.2.2
Criticism of resettlement at the time 190
4.3 Resettlement from Humenné 194
4.4 The Post-War Migration of the Roma to the Borderlands 197
4.4.1
From Papín to North Bohemia 200
4.4.2
Immigrants in the borderlands 203
4.4.3
Policy toward the Roma in the borderlands 204
4.4.4
The Act on the Permanent Settlement of Nomadic Persons 207
4.4.5
Continuity of dispersion in the border region 208
4.5 The Resettlement of the Roma in the Jicín Region 211
4.5.1
Initial conditions of resettlement 215
4.5.2
Regional policies in Šemetkovce 218
4.5.3
The partner district of Jicín 220
4.5.4
Categorisation of resettled families 221
4.5.5
Attitudes of the Roma from a gender perspective 225
4.5.6
Resettlement and the production of movement 229
4.5.7
Nostalgia for Slovakia and cross-border
socio-economic networks 233
4.5.8
The transformation of relationships from
a gender perspective 235
4.6 Conclusion 241
Conclusion 245
References 252
List of abbrevations
Introduction 11
0.1 The Roma of Kapišová 13
0.1.1
Agency, continuity, discontinuity 15
0.2 The Roma in Czechoslovakia and Policies towards G*psies 16
0.2.1
Resettlement policy 19
0.3 Reflections on the Resettlement Policy and Practice 23
0.3.1
Post-revolutionary reflections in Czech
and Slovak historiography 24
0.3.2
Localised studies 27
0.3.3
The resettlement policy in the new narrative
of Romani history 31
0.4 Roma as an Integral Part of Society 32
0.4.1
Regional and sub-ethnic outline of research interest 33
0.4.2
Terminology 34
0.4.3
Structure of the book 37
1. CHAPTER ONE
Romani Agency, Anthropology and History 42
1.1 Ways of Studying Agency 45
1.1.1
Margins as a starting point for analysis 45
1.1.2
Dominance and resistance 47
1.1.3
Negotiating marginalisation 50
1.1.4
The social position and identity of the Roma
in Central Europe 52
1.1.5
Anthropology, history and studies of agency 55
1.1.6
The question of representativeness 58
1.2 Methodology 60
1.2.1
Oral history 61
1.2.2
Research into the practice of the resettlement policy 63
1.2.3
Oral history and collaborative research 65
1.3 The Ethical Dimension of Research 71
2. CHAPTER TWO
Who Counts as a G*psy? 73
2.1 Discourse of G*psyness 75
2.1.1
Official categorisation 75
2.1.2
Racism as an obstacle to re-education 79
2.1.3
“In the interests of all” 84
2.1.4
“Let the councillors house them in their own home” 88
2.1.5
Disrupting the homogenous image of G*psyness? 92
2.1.6
The figure of the “respectable G*psy” 95
2.1.7
Reflections upon the limits of social acceptance 98
2.2 Roma and G*psies in Brekov 101
2.2.1
The story of the exceptional Roma of Brekov 101
2.2.2
Attitudes of the Brekov Roma in documents of the time 104
2.2.3
The social position of the Roma in Brekov 109
2.2.4
“Local” and “foreign G*psies” 111
2.2.5
Displacement of a foreign G*psy 115
2.2.6
Eviction as a resolution of local conflicts 119
2.3 Conclusion 125
3. CHAPTER THREE
The Settlements: Between Marginalisation and Autonomy 130
3.1 Central and Regional Policies towards the Settlements 133
3.2 Discourse of the G*psy Settlements 135
3.2.1
The logic of “liquidation” 135
3.2.2
The settlements as a locus of Romani culture? 137
3
.2.3 Marginalisation, stigmatisation, belonging 139
3.3 Disposal of the Settlements in the Former District of Humenné 142
3.3.1
The position of the local authorities 145
3.3.2
“Successful liquidation”: the settlement in Lubiša 147
3.3.3
Disposal of the settlement in the village of Papín 151
3.4 Podskalka: Between Marginalisation and Autonomy 156
3.4.1
Relocate, build or liquidate? 157
3.4.2
Self-governing Podskalka? 161
3.4.3
The position of the Roma 163
3.4.4
Buying up the shacks 166
3.4.5
Elemír T.: From Podskalka to the town 167
3.4.6
František B: A shack to be liquidated? 170
3.4.7
Who benefitted from the “G*psy policy”? 173
3.4.8
The reproduction of territorialisation 174
3.5 Conclusion 176
7
4. CHAPTER FOUR
Resettlement, Migration, Dispersion: Movement Control
and Agentive Strategies 180
4.1 Genesis of the Resettlement Policy 183
4.2 The Discourse of “Dispersion” 187
4.2.1
Complaints regarding restrictions on movement 188
4.2.2
Criticism of resettlement at the time 190
4.3 Resettlement from Humenné 194
4.4 The Post-War Migration of the Roma to the Borderlands 197
4.4.1
From Papín to North Bohemia 200
4.4.2
Immigrants in the borderlands 203
4.4.3
Policy toward the Roma in the borderlands 204
4.4.4
The Act on the Permanent Settlement of Nomadic Persons 207
4.4.5
Continuity of dispersion in the border region 208
4.5 The Resettlement of the Roma in the Jicín Region 211
4.5.1
Initial conditions of resettlement 215
4.5.2
Regional policies in Šemetkovce 218
4.5.3
The partner district of Jicín 220
4.5.4
Categorisation of resettled families 221
4.5.5
Attitudes of the Roma from a gender perspective 225
4.5.6
Resettlement and the production of movement 229
4.5.7
Nostalgia for Slovakia and cross-border
socio-economic networks 233
4.5.8
The transformation of relationships from
a gender perspective 235
4.6 Conclusion 241
Conclusion 245
References 252
List of abbrevations