Damned if They Go, Demand if They Stay: The Compounding Effect of Selective Misidentification, Marginalization, and Nation-State Politics on the "Intractability" of Romani Statelessness

Abstract

Romani statelessness is an intentional product of Western historical political processes, especially in the European context. It is therefore not intractable, as it may seem to be based on the decades of unsuccessful attempts at “integrating” Roma into the European Union’s society. Broadly, this paper illustrates distinct, Romani-specific social and cultural conditions that contextualize the complexities of Romani statelessness via a comparative analysis that demonstrates the negative impacts of selective misidentification, marginalization and nation-state politics both individually and jointly. Selective misidentification conceptually refers to an iterative historical process in which inconsistent labeling or perception of Roma, whether or not it is true, perpetuates and/or exacerbates disparate treatment and harms for Roma while benefiting or aligning with the desired social and political outcomes of others, especially the state. I consider selective misidentification broadly, referring to its various manifestations in both concrete and discrete forms. Concrete forms of selective misidentification such as in legal documentation of citizenship or property ownership, or discrete forms such as the politics of ethnic/racial identity and assimilation, are products of social, political, and cultural norms expressed and preserved through policy-making and implementation.