Infrastructure in Marginalised Roma Settlements: Towards a Typology of Unequal Outcomes of EU Funded Projects
Infrastructure in Marginalised Roma Settlements: Towards a Typology of Unequal Outcomes of EU Funded Projects

Summary/Abstract: The social exclusion of the Roma population in Slovakia is manifested in many areas of life– from housing, education, access to healthcare and services, to employment and spatial distance. More than half of the Roma live in segregated settlements, which are characterized by a lack of fundamental infrastructure. Although a substantial number of infrastructure projects funded from EU funds were implemented to address these conditions the outcomes had been inconclusive. In this paper, the authors suggest that significant factors affecting the outcomes are general structural conditions, power asymmetries, and rooted social practices at the local level. Employing P. Bourdieu’s theoretical concepts and building on extensive fieldwork in municipalities of eastern and southern Slovakia, the authors identify three types of outcomes. These might serve as ‘ideal types’ for the better understanding of social processes leading to decision-making, and how various social agents may shape implementation of infrastructure projects at the local level. Finally, the authors discuss possibilities of how to mitigate discrepancies between the declared goals of the projects and their real outcomes.

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