Overview

This timely work offers a clear and thorough assessment of how Roma make sure their voice is heard and addresses the difficulty in determining who legitimately represents this heterogeneous transnational minority community. The book argues that Roma are a transnational minority that, as such, requires transnational representation structures to complement domestic political representation structures. After explaining the relationship between representation and political participation within the context of ethnic mobilization, the book then evaluates representation structures and Roma participation in Romania, Hungary, and in the transnational political context. Analytically, the book presents a multidisciplinary approach that draws from the literature on minority rights, citizenship, international relations, and social movements. Empirically, it describes two domestic political contexts and a transnational one. An engaging, informative, and accessible text, Who Speaks for Roma? sheds light on the key challenges facing Roma across Europe today and will be a timely reference for anyone interested in minority politics, political participation, political representation, and human rights.

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9781441141415

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Reviews

Aidan McGarry does not claim to speak for Roma, but his book is a thoughtful and well-informed reflection on those who do. The importance of the subject can hardly be overestimated. Many Roma in Europe face tremendous problems of poverty, discrimination and social exclusion. Issues of political mobilization, participation and representation are a key part of that puzzle. The analysis on offer here is a welcome contribution to an emerging body of research that examines activism for the Roma against the background of broader theoretical and political debates about diversity, social equality, and minority rights. --Peter Vermeersch (University of Leuven) is the author of The Romani Movement: Minority Politics and Ethnic Mobilization in Contemporary Central Europe. ... the book is not only a valuable contribution to the growing literature on the political participation of Roma, it is also recommended for all those activists, policy-makers, and- in general- concerned European citizens, who wishes to understand better the difficulties and anomalies of giving voice to the most oppressed minority in Europe. -- Nations and Nationalisation, Volume 17, Part 4 McGarry's book is a significant contribution to Romani Studies and his analysis of 'legitimacy' questions the efficacy of the political representation of Romani rights as currently conceived in Europe. -- Millennium- Journal of International Studies

Author Information

Aidan McGarry is Lecturer in Politics at the School of Applied Social Science, University of Brighton. His research focuses on the political representation of ethnic minorities. He has contributed several articles to top journals, including Nationalities Paper and Journal of Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe. He also has co-authored several book chapters and reports.  

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