Democratization in the Post-Communist Europe:
A View From the Margins
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Warsaw School of Social Psychology
Publication date: 2008-09-16
Polish Sociological Review 2008;163(3):245-262
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ABSTRACT
The article presents the attitudes of the Roma minority towards the postcommunist transformation
in Poland in the broader context of Romani ethnic/political mobilization and transformations of
Romani identities. The text outlines main differences between the present situation of the Roma in Poland
and the way they were treated in the communist period. Differentiated attitudes of the Roma towards
postcommunist transformation have been presented and interpreted in the context of the growing sense of
insecurity, growing possibilities of self-organization, and difficulties with securing social integration. The
texts presents also various forms of discrimination and marginalization the Roma face, with particular
emphasis on decentralized physical violence and centralized semantic violence, which influence Romani
strategies of survival and identity-building.