Roma: Insecure or Dangerous? An Analysis of the Meaning of Security in Relation to Roma in the Czech and Slovak National Documents Cover Image

(Ne)bezpeční Romové? Analýza významu bezpečnosti ve vztahu k Romům ve vládních dokumentech České a Slovenské republiky
Roma: Insecure or Dangerous? An Analysis of the Meaning of Security in Relation to Roma in the Czech and Slovak National Documents

Author(s): Václav Walach
Subject(s): Social Sciences
Published by: Sociologický ústav - Slovenská akadémia vied
Keywords: security; the Roma; Roma integration policy; crime; social exclusion; anti-Gypsyism;

Summary/Abstract: The present paper engages with the semantic relationship between security and Roma in the context of Central European liberal democracies. On the basis of comparative analysis of Czech and Slovak strategic documents, it is pointed out that an ambivalent construction of the (in)security of Roma occurs. The Roma are seen both as threatened and threatening. Whether it is done directly or via the production of specific categories such as the "socially inadaptable", this presents a challenge for liberal governance. In conclusion, this illiberal tendency is identified with the phenomenon of "reasonable anti-Gypsyism", and policy suggestions are drawn up.

  • Issue Year: 48/2016
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 172-191
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: Czech