KEEP CALM AND BESHEN KHERE. INTERNET I TRANSNARODOWA INTENSYFIKACJA ŻYCIA POLSKICH ROMÓW W CZASIE PANDEMII COVID-19
KEEP CALM AND BESHEN KHERE. INTERNET AND TRANSNATIONAL INTENSIFICATION OF LIFE AMONG POLISH ROMA UNDER THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Summary/Abstract: The article focuses on online social practices of the Polish Roma. The main context is provided by the COVID-19 epidemic accompanied by a period of lockdown from mid-March to the end of April 2020 and the necessity of social distancing. The research was conducted using online social interactions among the Polish Roma in Poland and their kin living abroad. As such, the internet functions as a source of information and opportunity to maintain social relations between the research participants. We point to the specifics of the Roma-generated online content before and after the pandemic. In this respect, we emphasize the way Roma culture and norms of common law “fit into” the Internet. It is on this ground that we introduce the concept of e-romanipen which describes the online shift in Roma culture. We interpret the intensification of online activity under the COVID-19 pandemic as an expression of collective agency and creativity aimed at cultural reproduction and maintenance of group cohesion at the time of threat and existential insecurity.

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