CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2013
| Author | Mihalovics, Éva |
|---|---|
| Title | 30 MINUTES OF SILENCE Potential intersections of shame, insecurities, and fear on the NANE helpline |
| Summary | In this thesis I investigate how the domestic violence helpline run by NGO NANE (Budapest, Hungary) can take into consideration more effectively the various aspects of belonging to Roma minority when working with callers of Roma origin. More precisely I ask the question that in the practice of the helpline in cases of visible minorities (like Roma)when and how is perception of Romany-ness silenced, or on the contrary, restored by the Roma caller or the counselor. I examine the special aspects of fear, insecurity and shame present in the conversations between the counselors and the callers to find out how ethnic belonging and (anti)racism are present, when potentially Roma women are calling the helpline and remaining silent about their ethnic beloning. So doing I focus on one hand on how the experience of being Roma can be connected to Eve Kosofsky-Sedgwick’s concept of shame (2003) and the performative obligation of visible minorities (Muñoz, 2006) . Utilizing the finds and insights of Hungarian anthropologists (Kovai, Horváth, 2012) I state that being Roma cannot and shouldn’t be discussed without the racialized aspects of perception into consideration. I also emphasize how problematic the concept of culture of poverty is, which appears in different forms when researching and working with/for Roma (basing on Stewart). I claim that the different waves of feminisms being present synchronically and the problematic characteristic of belonging to the Hungarian nation affect the way counselors acting and reacting on the helpline. On the other hand in the second part of the thesis I analyze the interviews I conducted with my colleagues and the results of my participant observation as a trainer of the NGO and as a counselor on the helpline to find out what suggestions could be made to improve the quality of our work when Romany women call us. |
| Supervisor | Elissa Helms |
| Department | Gender Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2013/mihalovics_eva.pdf |
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