Racism and Romani Studies

The volume explores how racism has shaped the lives of Roma across Europe and how scholarship itself has often perpetuated exclusion. The volume is structured into three parts and assembles empirical evidence, critical theoretical insights, and innovative strategies: Part I advances conceptual clarifications on racism and antigypsyism and examines academia's historical role in shaping Roma representations; Part II analyzes manifestations of antigypsyism across diverse contexts―from policing practices and institutional structures to labor market exclusion and media portrayals. Part III proposes innovative strategies and approaches for confronting racism against Roma, emphasizing the importance of Roma participation in knowledge production and policymaking. Contributions from a diverse pool of established and emerging scholars dissect topics such as the legacy of gypsylorism, systemic racism in welfare systems, education, visual misrepresentations in popular culture, and the role of racial capitalism in Roma marginalization. Through empirical studies, critical historiographies, and theoretical reflections, contributors illuminate the persistent entanglement between academic discourse, state practices, and racialized governance. In showing how racism operates at structural and individual levels, the volume stands as an essential resource for scholars of ethnic and racial studies, sociology, anthropology, political science, and policy studies, as well as activists, and policymakers committed to challenging centuries of discrimination.

Dr. Iulius Rostas is a Visiting Professor at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest (Hungary) and the National University of Political Studies and Administration in Bucharest (Romania). In 2021-2023, he taught courses on racism at the University of Stuttgart and Dortmund University of Applied Sciences. Between 2016 and 2019, he served as Chair of Romani Studies and Assistant Professor at Central European University. Previously, he was an Affiliated Fellow with the Institute for Advanced Studies at CEU and a Visiting Lecturer at Corvinus University of Budapest. Dr Rostas is the editor of “Ten Years After: A History of Roma School Desegregation in Central and Eastern Europe” (CEU Press, 2012) and in 2011 he published “Social Inclusion or Exclusion: the Rights of Persons Living with HIV in Moldova” (Cartier Publishing, 2011). He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Critical Romani Studies journal and is a member of the Board of the CEEOL Publishing. In 2019, he authored “A Task for Sisyphus: Why Policies towards Roma in Europe Are Failing” (CEU Press), and in 2025, he co-authored “Ungleiche Teilhabe: Bildungserfahrungen und Perspektiven von Romnja und Sintize in der Stadt Freiburg” published by Springer.

Anna Mirga-Kruszelnicka, PhD, is an anthropologist and a Roma activist, born in Cracow, Poland. She earned her Ph.D. in Social and Cultural Anthropology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) in 2016. She is the author of policy evaluations, reports, and articles, co-editor of the “Education for Remembrance of the Roma Genocide: Scholarship, Commemoration and the Role of Youth“ (Libron, 2015) and “Re-thinking Roma Resistance throughout History: Recounting Stories of Strength and Bravery” (ERIAC, 2020) and author of “Mobilizing Romani Ethnicity: Romani Political Activism in Argentina, Colombia, and Spain (CEU Press, 2022). She has been an employee, member, founder, and collaborator of numerous Roma organisations in Poland and Spain. From 2008 to 2012 she was the European project coordinator at the Federation of Roma Associations in Catalonia (FAGIC). From 2013 to 2015 she was an Open Society Foundations Roma Initiatives Fellow, conducting a comparative study of the Roma associative movements in various countries of Latin America and Europe. From 2015 to 2017 she was the coordinator and curator of the Academic Section (aka. Roma Civil Rights Movement Section) in the RomArchive – Digital Archive of the Roma. Between 2017-2018 she was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow of the Romani Studies Program at the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest. She serves as the deputy director of the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC) since January 2018, in charge of, among other things, the Barvalipe Roma Online University.

Calin Rus, PhD, is, since 1996, Director at the Intercultural Institute of Timisoara (Romania), one of the first organizations in Romania denouncing, researching and combating anti-Roma racism. He is Associate Professor at the West University of Timisoara and served as vice-president of the International Association of Intercultural Research. Since 2003, he was a lead expert on several Council of Europe projects, including Education of Roma Children in Europe, ROMED, ROMED2, ROMACT, InSchool – Inclusive schools - Making a difference for Roma Children. He is author or co-author of several publications of the Council of Europe, including the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (2018). He co-edited “Interculturalism and Discrimination in Romania. Policies, Practices, Identities and Representations” (Lit Verlag, 2006). He is the author of several book chapters on priority education policies focused on Roma (ENS Éditions, 2008, 2011, Palgrave, 2014), as well as co-author of the study “Measures for Roma inclusion in the labour market: from organized hypocrisy to real effectiveness (Intercultural Institute Timisoara, 2014).