Romové v poválečném Československu a meze konceptu občanství
Roma in post-war Czechoslovakia and limits of the concept of citizenship

Summary/Abstract: The review was initially published in "The American Historical Review", Vol. 125, No. 1 (February 2020), p. 332 n. According to the reviewer’s opinion, the book "The Rights of the Roma: The Struggle for Citizenship in Postwar Czechoslovakia" (NY: CUP, 2017) written by the British historian Celia Donert should be read by all who are interested in policies implemented toward the Roma in Europe in the 20th century and in the complex issue of the approach of Communists to social and ethnic questions. The authoress shows an excellent grasp of continuous efforts to improve the situation of the Roma on the one hand, and to control them on the other hand, in various political situations, before and after the war, at the time of and after the Communist rule, both in Czechoslovakia and in a broader European context. In doing so, she offers evidence of failures of the human rights agenda in different political contexts, including that of the European Union’s Roma policy, until the present day, and clearly shows that policies and measures implemented vis-à-vis the Roma are not a marginal topic, but an area which demonstrates essential limits of the concept of citizenship in the 20th and 21st centuries.

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