Преначертаване на символни граници на ромските общности в контекста на пандемията от COVID-19
Symbolic boundary work within and outside of Roma communities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Summary/Abstract: In Bulgaria, the mobilisation of institutions to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the fore specific additional vulnerabilities among Roma communities. COVID-19 represents a particularly interesting moment to critically examine the expanse of the social crisis for the Roma in Bulgaria, especially through the lens of the health crisis as an “unsettled cultural period”. It is here that mutually energizing processes of redefining symbolic boundaries in these communities emerge – a process setting the scene for analytical exploration of the linkage between crossing the social boundaries and re-working of the symbolic. This article examines namely the attempt of key Roma actors to establish their own new positionality within a symbolic field allowing the approximation of the Roma towards the “normal” and away from the“gypsy” or “marginal”. The article uses data from focus groups conducted in 2020 with Roma leaders, activists, health mediators and youth.

• Details
• Contents