Despite being embedded within the majority populations in which they live and contributing directly to the societies they inhabit, Roma communities across Europe have recurrently been presented (in the mass-media, popular culture and political discourses) as ‘others’ or marginal to the workings of the national state. The aim of the workshop is to gather Roma and transnational minority related research scholars to present ongoing research and to ponder trends and challenges in current Roma politics, Roma research and research politics. This workshop offers a critical perspective to this approach, aiming to bring a more engaged study and understanding of Roma in a global and European perspective.
There are a few places for external participants. If you are interested in attending, please contact: peter.stadius@helsinki.fi.
Program
12–14: Elena Marushiakova-Popova (University of St. Andrews) & Veselin Popov (University of St. Andrews): Muslim Roma and Roma Islam: Past and Present
Malte Gasche (Univ. of Helsinki): Diverging Fates: Travelling Circus People in a global perspective
Miika Tervonen (Univ. of Helsinki): Memories of/over an ethnic boundary
14-14.30: coffee break
14.30–17: Kati Mikkola (Finnish Literature Society): Roma Folklore in the Collection Policies of the Finnish Literature Society
Raluca Bianca Roman (University of St. Andrews): Religious becoming and the social outreach of faith: Pentecostalism as a medium and a method
Marko Stenroos (Univ. of Helsinki): Revealing the myths: ethnographic journey into Romani politics
Contributor bios
Elena Marushiakova has worked in the field of Romani studies for more than 3 decades and published widely on Roma in Bulgaria, Balkans and Central and Eastern Europe. Her major publications (in co-authorship with Vesselin Popov) include the first-ever monographs on Roma history and ethnography of the Roma in Bulgaria (1997) and on the Gypsies in the Ottoman Empire (2000); alongside a book on Roma in the Black Sea region (2008) and book on Gypsies in Central Asia and Caucasus (2016). She is President of the Gypsy Lore Society, the world’s oldest organization of Romani studies. She was also founding and Scientific Committee member of the European Academic Network on Romani Studies, which was established by the European Commission and the Council of Europe. In 2015 Elena Marushiakova was a Leverhulme Visiting Professor at the University of St. Andrews and in September 2016 she returns as holder of ERC advanced grant working as Principal Investigator.
Veselin Popov has worked in the field of Romani studies for more than 3 decades and published widely on Roma in Bulgaria, Balkans and Central and Eastern Europe. His major publications (in co-authorship with Elena Marushiakova) include the first-ever monographs on Roma history and ethnography of the Roma in Bulgaria (1997) and on the Gypsies in the Ottoman Empire (2000); alongside a book on Roma in the Black Sea region (2008) and book on Gypsies in Central Asia and Caucasus (2016). Veselin Popov and Elena Marushiakova are editors and authors of 4 volumes with Roma Folklore and Oral History, as well as many other books, articles and book chapters, assessment studies and catalogues for museum exhibitions. Veselin Popov is member of the editorial boards of the journals Romani Studies, Grazer Romani Studien, Studia Romologica and of the Book Series Nationalisms Across the Globe (Peter Lang). From September 2016 Veselin Popov is working at the University of St Andrews in frames of ERC advanced grant.
Elena Marushiakova and Veselin Popov are editors and authors of 4 volumes with Roma Folklore and Oral History, as well as many other books, articles and book chapters, assessment studies and catalogues for museum exhibitions.