Romani communities: between belonging and antigypsyism

Name: Romani communities: between belonging and antigypsyism
Start: 2025-11-03T18:00:00+00:00
End: 2025-11-03T20:00:00+00:00
Location: SEESAW

Schedule

Mon Nov 03 2025 at 06:00 pm to 08:00 pm

UTC+00:00

Location

SEESAW | Manchester, EN

Bringing together Roma activist, community leaders, artists and researchers
About this Event

In the January 2024 Eurobarometer poll noted that Roma are the most discriminated group in Europe, with 65% of them experiencing discrimination in everyday lives. This is a staggering data which demonstrates the extend of antigypyism in the European society.

Roma inhabit a very specific positionality within the European space. Media stories, political campaigns as well as specific policies aiming to address inclusion and integration make Romani communities extremely visible and exposed to abuse, discrimination and violence. Antigypsyist attitudes further pose barriers to effective inclusion into economic and labour markets, and equal participation in civil society.

Endemic exclusion from the socio-economic life pose challenges to the notion of belonging. This event brings together activist, academics and representatives from Roma communities to discuss how, in the face of antigypsyism, individuals from Roma communities build and maintain a sense of belonging; and how belonging might work as a strategy of resistance and resilience in the face of dissemination and abuse.

Panellists will share their experiences in organising against racism and antigypsyism, expose challenges they bring to the feeling of belonging, and point to organising strategies that can counter exclusion and unbelonging.

The event will be accompanied by an exhibition of photos from Pušča - a Roma village in Slovenia - and a video showcasing experiences of antigypsyism in school (exhibition open from Monday, 3 November to Wednesday, 5 November in the basement/exhibition space of SeeSaw).

This event is part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2025 and was made possible thanks to funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Photo credit: Szegedi-Varga, Zsuzsanna (2017). GONE/ReDONE [Still from multimedia video installation, water-soluble paint, digital projection, audience interaction]. MODEM, Centre for Modern and Contemporary Arts, Debrecen, Hungary.