The Securitization of the Roma in Europe

Reviews / Votes

"Many will think, why bother for another book on Roma, I am not one of them? Reading the book will change their views. Everybody can become a Roma by proxy and live what they live, but more lightly. What is at stake in the superb study has not much to do with the diverse peoples categorised as Roma, but with anyone who is captured by processes of (in)securitisation and politics of security that connect a potential suspect with certain suspect activities of mobility, of market, of visuality, of human rights, of freedom. In that sense we are all Roma without knowing it. This is a lesson for all those who do not see the sacrificial part of security and associate too quickly security and protection for all." (Didier Bigo, International Relations, Sciences Po, Paris; King's College London, UK)

"This innovative and timely edited volume on Roma and their (in)securitisation across Europe brings together an impressive mix of scholars, both established and emerging. At the heart of this text is a dedicated and rigorous belief in the benefits of interdisciplinary and intersectional approaches to examining issues of concern to Roma communities and the social, economic and political challenges they face. The historical and contemporary evidence presented in this book illustrates, whether in Germany, France, Spain or Romania, that Roma are the neighbours no one wants and their pathologised cultural and visual representations have material, felt consequences for those families at the sharp end. This volume begins to address and interrogate such matters with sensitivity, reason and an engaged commitment. It is a very welcome contribution to the contested field of critical Romani Studies." (Colin Clark, Sociology and Social Policy, University of the West of Scotland, UK)

"At the intersection of critical security studies, minority studies and citizenship studies, this collection of essays develops nuanced and careful analyses of the multiplicity of exclusionary and violent practices that target the Roma people in Europe. The Securitisation of the Roma in Europe helps us untangle the heterogeneous connections between securitisation, marketisation, neoliberalism, development and visuality. The book is also vitally important for understanding the tensions and struggles over the making of precarious populations today." (Claudia Aradau, International Politics, King's College London, UK)

"This is a splendid book. It is a theoretically fine-tuned volume that examines the plight of a minority population in Europe at a time when a new politics of security takes central stage. But the authors provide so much more here. Through a range of perspectives on the perplexities of securitization, they analyse a key dimension of Europe's current predicament. This not only concerns minorities-it concerns all." (Peter Vermeersch, Political Science, University of Leuven, Belgium)