Stanje i perspektive političkog aktivizma među Romima pentekostalcima u jugoistočnoj Srbiji
Status And Prospect Of Political Activism Among Pentecostal Roma In South-Eastern Serbia

Summary/Abstract: Pentecostals gravitate has shifted from the Western countries towards Africa, Latin America, and some parts of Asia. The global rise of conservative Protestant Christianity has led the leading scholars of Evangelistic blaze to rethink its political implications, which is discussed in the first part of this paper. The second part summarizes the issue of the relationship between the Pentecostal believers and their leadership in Serbia and their right to socio-political involvement. Serbian Pentecostalism is significantly determined by the participation of Roma: the largest religious communities are concentrated in Roma quarters in Niš, Leskovac, Vranje, and other towns, mostly in South-eastern Serbia. Does the Roma Pentecostal Evangelism from the south of Serbia have the potential to incite ethnic reaffirmation using cultural renewal and proposing political dialogue and practice? Thus far, the inclusion of Evangelical Christians in the “Roma political field” has been conducted through the process of cooperation between municipal and church representatives at the local level: Roma evangelical pastors have become the desired partners of municipal authorities in dealing with accumulated Roma problems. It is still not to be expected from domestic Evangelists to take up the role of founders and sponsors of political movements or parties, but it is much more likely that the Pentecostal Roma will appear as the creators of the “public role” of Evangelical Christianity in their local surroundings. The research was conducted on the sample of 30 baptized believers of Roma nationality and four Roma and one non-Roma leader of the Evangelical Pentecostal Church from South-eastern Serbia (Leskovac, Vranje, and Prokuplje).

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