Conceptual paradigms and policy discourses on the Roma in Hungary - and beyond

Pap, András László (2018) Conceptual paradigms and policy discourses on the Roma in Hungary - and beyond. In: Peremhelyzetben III. = Marginal Position III. Didakt, Debrecen, pp. 149-180. ISBN 9786155212666

Text pap_paper.pdf Restricted to Repository staff only Download (368kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

The first, theoretical part of the paper starts by analyzing habitually used definitions and conceptualizations in international and domestic legal documents for minority groups. By using the Roma as a “litmus test”, the author argues that the racial-ethnic-national minority terminology triad is unhelpful, and calls for a more for complex, functional set of definitions, which better reflect socio-political realities, arguing that group recognition is always politicized, and the form and substance of recognizing certain groups’ legal and political aspirations will depend on the nature of their claims and its compatibility with the majority culture, for example the length of their historic coexistence or the basis for group-formation. The second part provides a case study on how the newly adopted Hungarian Constitution and the subsequently adopted new Act on nationalities, which re-labels and “transforms” them into “nationalities” from a “national and/or ethnic” group, fine tunes the conceptualization of the Roma in Hungary.

Actions (login required)

Edit Item