Research Center on Antigypsyism What is antigypsyism research?
Sinti and Roma are among the largest minorities in a socially diverse Europe. However, members of these communities are subject to massive discrimination. This is based on persistent stigmatisation, which has a long history that has received little attention to date, but still has an impact today. Prejudiced attitudes and the resulting mechanisms of exclusion are not only directed against Sinti and Roma, but also against other social groups that are perceived as ‘gypsies’ and constructed as fundamentally ‘other’. Analysing these processes from a historical perspective is a task of great scientific and socio-political urgency.
Antigypsyism research is still a young, interdisciplinary field that has developed dynamically, especially since the turn of the millennium. The focus is on exclusion practices and semantics in majority society. Work on methodological foundations is particularly concerned with the historical and social conditions of the antigypsyist prejudice structure, including the associated cognitive and affective processes. Empirical research on institutional antigypsyism and the experiences of racism of those affected is still in its infancy. While there is a heterogeneous, albeit incomplete, research landscape on the history of persecution under National Socialism, there is comparatively little source-based work on other eras. The diverse manifestations of antigypsyism in culture, the media and academia have also only just begun to be investigated.
There is an ongoing critical discourse regarding key concepts; this also applies to the term “'antigypsyism”' itself, which has only recently become established in research. The term encompasses both images and negative stereotypes constructed by mainstream society as well as the resulting practices of discrimination, marginalisation and persecution, including genocide under the Nazi regime. The effect of antigypsyism lies in the homogenisation, stigmatisation and devaluation of the individuals concerned by attributing deviant, pre-modern or archaic characteristics in particular, sometimes also in a romanticised, explanatory form. The consequences for those affected include social, state and institutional discrimination in areas such as education, work, health and housing, and even physical violence.
Recommended internet resources
We have compiled an annotated list of links to give you an initial introduction and overview of the topic of antigypsyism and the history and current situation of Sinti and Roma. Here you will find information platforms as well as educational materials and media.