The Czech “Roma Question”

A talk by Filip Pospíšil, PhD

WEDNESDAY, April 20 at 7pm
Bohemian National Hall, 3rd Floor
321 E 73 Street, New York City

Roma kidsRoma in the Czech Republic became in recent decades subjects of various governmental programs as well as public protests, discrimination and racial violence. The “Roma problem” was presented as the result of a “culture of poverty”, Roma were characterized as “undeserving poor” and finally being treated as a security issue. The securitized approach to Roma was reflected also in adoption or promotion of the policies of “zero tolerance” of Roma criminality in several Czech municipalities. The talk will discuss how Roma-related discourses affect policy formation at national and local levels and also how certain policies transform the way Roma are perceived and understood.

RSVP: newyork@svu2000.org 

Filip PospisilFilip Pospíšil, PhD is an anthropologist, human rights activist and journalist focusing on marginal groups and subcultures in the Central Europe. He received his Ph.D. in Anthropology at Charles University Prague. He is an author and co-author of several academic publications, and participates in research, advocacy and campaigns on human rights and privacy rights. For six years, he worked as a co-editor of the cultural bi-weekly A2 in Prague. He is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Harriman Institute at Columbia University with the project The “Roma question”: Evolution of discourses on Roma and related policies in the Czech Republic.

In conjunction with
Opre Khetanes IV Concert and Conference on Romani (Gypsy) Musics and Cultures
at New York University, April 23-24

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