The Roma in Macedonia

Ethnic politics and the marginal condition in a Balkan state

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2145829
AutoresZoltan Barany (0000-0001-9485-1436, The University of Texas at Austin, autor de correspondencia)
Año1995
Volumen18
Número3
Páginas515-531
Fecha de publicación1995-07-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaEthnic and Racial Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0141-9870 • E-ISSN: 1466-4356
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01419870.1995.9993877
OpenAlexW2021060448
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas9
Referencias citadas17

Most of Eastern Europe's five-to-seven-million Roma (Gypsies) welcomed the revolutions of 1989 only to realize that the post-communist era brought mixed blessing to them. Although since then their political and cultural marginalization had diminished, their social and economic circumstances had clearly deteriorated in East Central Europe and the Balkans alike. The only exception to this rule appears to be the newly independent Republic of Macedonia, where the Roma's conditions in many respects are far superior to those of their counterparts elsewhere in the region. There are several reasons for this phenomenon. In the economic realm the Macedonian Roma's situation has also worsened (although still much better than that of the Roma in other Balkan states) but not as a result of ethnic discrimination but owing to the economic hardships accompanying the post-communist transitions. In the political sphere, the Roma in Macedonia have benefited from a state whose representatives are willing to rise above sympathetic rhetoric and take concrete steps to alleviate their problems as well as from relatively well organized Romani political parties. Most important, however, are the differences between societal attitudes towards the Roma in Macedonia and elsewhere in Eastern Europe. In Macedonia the Roma's relations with the dominant ethnic group (Macedonians) are primarily characterized by 'peaceful coexistence' rather than tension and animosity. Moreover, Romani communities in Macedonia are less isolated from non-Roma both culturally and socio-economically. This state of affairs is the result of a number of related factors, most important of which are that the Romani community does not represent a threat to Macedonians given their numerical weakness and lack of political clout in contradistinction to the very real threat posed by the ethnic Albanian community in the country. In turn, the Roma's relations to ethnic Albanians and Turks remain relatively agreeable as well. Keywords: Eastern EuropeBalkansMacedoniaRoma (Gypsies)marginality: ethno-politics

Ethnic group · Geography · Political science · Politics · State (computer science · Balkans: History, Politics, Society · Law · Mathematics · Romani and Gypsy Studies