European University Institute Department of Law The Romani claim to non-territorial nationhood: taking legitimacy-based claims seriously in international law Morag Goodwin Supervisor: Prof Neil Walker ; Iï t Thesis submitted with a view to obtaining the degree of Doctor of Laws of the European University Institute 1 \ Florence, April 2006 European University Institute 3 0001 0047 7218 4 0 8 MAG. 2006 BIBLIOTECA European University Institute 2 **) Department of Law The Romani claim to non-territorial nationhood: taking legitimacy-based claims seriously in international law Morag Goodwin Examining Board Members: Prof. Neil Walker (Supervisor, European University Institute) Prof. Michael Keating (European University Institute) Prof. James TuIIy (University of Victoria) Mr. Stephen Tierney (University of Edinburgh) Florence, April 2006 Acknowledgements The first and most important words of gratitude are owed to my parents, to whom this work is dedicated. My brother and I were brought up to believe that we could achieve anything and that education was the key to giving us choices in life. I’m not sure if they would have wished me to pursue my education so far, or if they are thrilled with the decisions I have made, but I know that they are proud, that I am loved, and that they are content with my choices as long as I am. One could not ask for more from parents. It is dedicated too to my brother, Ian, for his faith in my ability and for his unfailing talent for making me laugh out loud. Both have been powerful sustaining forces throughout the process and through the difficult moments in the last few years. I hope that he is suitably impressed with the result and can find no hint of drowning highwaymen here! I owe a great deal of thanks to my supervisor, Neil Walker, who has guided me, imperceptibly almost, to the final thesis. He has provided encouragement and support whilst refraining from imposing his own thoughts and ideas upon my work. Allowing a free rein to one’s supervisees in pursuit of their research is not perhaps the easiest path to a Ph.D. for either party, but it is the more interesting and rewarding one, and I am grateful that this is the path I was ushered down. I am grateful too to Benedict Kingsbury and to Kirsty Gover for the discussions we shared at NYU in the autumn of 2003. It was a brief but immensely valuable period. My interest in the Roma stems from my time as an intern, and later as a researcher, working at the European Roma Rights Center in Budapest. I owe much to those who tutored me on Romani issues during my time there, Claude Cahn in particular. Ilona Klimova-Alexander and Peter Vermeersch kindly sent me their unpublished Ph.D. manuscripts upon request; their work features prominently in the first three chapters and I am grateful for their generosity in sharing their work with me. Among the friends without whom my time at the Institute would have been much the poorer - especially Jochen, Claire, Neil, Peer, Monica, and Bernhard - I owe particular thanks to two. This work owes a special debt to Euan MacDonald. Without 1 his friendship and support, particularly in the early stages, I doubt that it would have seen completion. His critical input has improved all major aspects of it and I cannot think that I will ever be so lucky with an office-mate again. Similarly, an extra word of thanks is owed to Nils Coleman; his friendship provided a welcome relief from all matters of work, but also ensured that my growth was not limited to matters of academia. I owe thanks, too, to Thomas. He has helped to ensure that my ideas stayed grounded and did not result in oh so much wishful thinking. Where I have succeeded in preventing heady idealism from taking over, it is due largely to his efforts. He has helped me to structure my thoughts and the resulting work, listening as my thinking, particularly on recognition, swirled beyond my control. That it is pinned down at all owes much to his support and impatience. I am grateful too to the Institute itself and to the Law Department in particular. Like any institution, it has its quirks and oddities, but it is a special place and I feel privileged to have been a part of it. Within its beautiful walls, I have grown intellectually beyond my own recognition. It is difficult to say whether this is a good thing or not: life seemed much simpler before. Thanks is also due to my current institute - the Faculty of Law, Maastricht University, to METRO and to the International and European Law Department in particular - both for support in allowing me research time to finish the thesis and for the faith of hiring someone as an UD on the basis of a promised PhD. My apologies that it took longer than anticipated. My parents have patiently proof-read every chapter, attempting to create clear and simple sentences from my long-winded prose. Where they have succeeded in producing clarity, the credit is theirs. mmmmmmmwm m i m m m m m m i imniJPpiiw iiw w pw iiw w Table of Contents Acknowledgements................................................................................. 1 Table of Contents.......................................................................................................... 3 Introduction............................................................................... ; .................................. 6 1. Subject and delimitation of this thesis..................................................................7 2. Structure of this thesis...........................................................................................9 Section 1....................................................................... 14 Chapter 1 : A History of the Roma ......................................... ....................................15 1.1. Indian Origins...................................................................................................15 1.2. A people of Europe.......................................................................................... 21 1.2.1. From pilgrims to persecution....................................................................21 1.2.2. The Romani Holocaust (O (Baro) Porrajmos)..........................................27 1.2.3. Post- war responses to the ‘Gypsy problem’ ............................................28 1.2.4. A global people .............................................................. 32 Chapter 2: Romani Transnational Political Organisation ........................................... 35 2.1. The past of Romani political mobilisation......................................................36 2.2. An analysis of recent Romani claims...............................................................46 2.2.1. Conceptions of the Romani Nation...........................................................46 2.2.2. The European Roma Forum and alternative national claims .................... 49 2.2.3. A Non-territorial Nation ..... .............................................................. 55 2.2.4. Summary................................................................................................... 60 Chapter 3: On Romani Identity....................................................................................65 3.1 Conceiving of Romani identity......................................................................... 65 3.1.1. A Diasporic Identity? ......................... 66 3.1.2. Identity as Lifestyle....................................................................................73 3.1.3. Blood-brothers ................................................................................ 75 3.2. The Romani archipelago...................................................................................78 3.3. A Pan-Romani identity?....................................................................................85 3.3.1. Ingroup/ Outgroup Distinctions ................................................................ 85 3.3.2. Post-colonial Identity.................................................................................86 3.3.3. Romanipé as a source of pan-Romani identity.........................................89 3.4. The Romani Movement as Identity- Building: a short riposte .................... 96 Section 2................................... 99 Chapter 4: Recognition: Theories and Practice.........................................................100 4.1. Recognition and the Situating of the Self....................................................101 4.1.1. The Hegelian Dialectic and the Path to Freedom ...................................102 4.1.2. The Social Self, Identity and the story that we tell ourselves ................. 106 4.1.3 Charles Taylor’s authenticity in horizons of significance ....................... I ll 4.1.4. Misrecognition or Why Recognition Matters..........................................114 3 !* W thfiiM Ulliittitlaiihtituîtiii t». * i* ii j ; ; I • ^ ~ fl>Tt rrrtfr**— ^ ^WiWliW 4.2 Recognition and the Political............................................................................121 4.2.1. A Liberal Response...................................................................................121 A. Special status rights.................................................................. ......................122 B. Habermas and constitutional patriotism.........................................................125 4.2.2. The Politics of Difference: a Communitarian approach ..........................129 4.2.3. Recognition and Agonism: politics as a critical activity ..........................131