CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2007
| Author | Radu, Cerasela Stefania |
|---|---|
| Title | From Socialist Governmentality to Local Governance: Explaining Difference in Socio-Economic Practice Among Roma in Romania |
| Summary | Abstract This thesis attempts to explain the socio-economic differences amongst groups of Roma in Romania by looking at the way in which they appropriated (complied with and resisted against) the categories and symbols of the socialist modernization projects. Socialist governmentality aimed at creating spaces for identification by using diverse technologies of power such as sedentarization and proletarianization. However, the implementation of these programs in the case of nomadic Gypsies were negotiated and domesticated in the process of local governance. Moreover, the nomads’ informal knowledge was not substituted by the new one, imposed by the socialist governmentality, but it was rather a source of adaptability for both Roma and local authorities in the process of socialist modernization. On the other hand, the settled Roma, as governable subjects were easily approached by the socialist state and they were easier to incorporate in the socialist structures. In addition, as they were out of other alternatives for living, they were in a position to accept easier the new spaces for identification. The different forms of knowledge developed and used in the socialist regime either empowered or disempowered the Roma after 1990. While nomadic Roma, who preserved their informal knowledge succeeded in adapting successfully to post-socialism, the settled Roma, who made use of the imposed proletarian knowledge, were unable to manage in the new socio-economic environment. Therefore, this paper can be seen as a critique of the modernization projects of Roma populations, which generally approached the population outside their own resources and capacities. |
| Supervisor | Rajaram, Prem Kumar; Kalb, Don |
| Department | Sociology MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2007/radu_cerasela.pdf |
Visit the CEU Library.
© 2007-2021, Central European University