THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF THE ROMA MINORITY FROM ROMANIA ON ITS WAY TO MODERNITY
THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF THE ROMA MINORITY FROM ROMANIA ON ITS WAY TO MODERNITY

Summary/Abstract: Academic articles on minorities from Romania abound and many have been written both by Romanian academics and by foreign researchers. Since Romania became part of the European Union in 2007 and even in the years preceding this process, the Roma has been one of the most studied minorities in Romania and various institutions have focused on ethnicity in an attempt to on one hand help them integrate better into the overall Romanian and European society and, on the other hand, to increase social tolerance towards the Roma themselves. This article, written initially as a paper for a Harvard class on the development of social institutions over time, tries to provide a different understanding on the issue. It proposes that we briefly analyse the evolution of the Roma community throughout the centuries in order to understand why they are only partially integrated into Romanian and European society. At the same time, the current tensions between the Romanian state and other states on one side and the Roma community from Romania on the other show how general efforts to integrate the community are undoubtedly undermined.

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