ROMA POPULATION ON THE PERIPHERIES OF THE VISEGRAD COUNTRIES

Spatial trends and Social challenges

ROMA POPULATION ON THE PERIPHERIES OF THE VISEGRAD COUNTRIES

Spatial trends and Social challenges

Edited by: János PÉNZES and Zsolt RADICS

The project was financed and supported by the Standard Grant (no. 21120080) of the International Visegrad Fund.

Debrecen, 2012

Project partners:

Jagiellonian J. E. Purkinje University of Presov University University University University in Presov of of in Krakow in Usti nad Labem () () (Hungary) () ()

Edited by: János PÉNZES and Zsolt RADICS

Lectored by: Gábor KOZMA and Csaba PATKÓS

Technical Editor: Erzsébet ERDELICSNÉ VIRÁGOS

ISBN 978-615-5212-07-9

Kiadta a DIDAKT Kft., Debrecen Felelős kiadó: a DIDAKT Kft. ügyvezetője Nyomdai munkák: Center-Print Kft., Debrecen

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD János Pénzes – Zsolt Radics……..……………………………………………………………..5 SPATIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ROMA POPULATION……………7 THE QUESTION OF THE ROMA’S INTEGRATION IN EUROPE AND HUNGARY István Süli-Zakar………………………………………………………………………………….9 RATIO OF ROMA STUDENTS IN HUNGARY AND SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF SCHOOLS Attila Papp Zoltán..……………………………………………………………………………...31 SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION AND DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS OF THE ROMA POPULATION IN NORTHEASTERN HUNGARY István Pásztor – János Pénzes…………………………………………………………………60 THE ROMA POPULATION IN SLOVAKIA Basic Characteristics of the Roma Population with Emphasis on the Spatial Aspects of its Differentiation Kvetoslava Matlovičová – René Matlovič – Alexander Mušinka – Anna Židová……….77 SITUATION OF THE ROMA IN SLOVAKIA AND THEIR STATUS IN THE CONTEMPORARY SLOVAK SOCIETY Alexander Mušinka – Jana Kolesárová……………………………………………………..104 GYPSIES/ROMANI IN POLAND – OUTLINE OF THE TOPIC Maria Soja – Andrzej Zborowski…………………………………………………………….119 ROMA IDENTITY AND CULTURE………………………………………...135 THE ROMA CULTURAL HERITAGE IN POLAND – SELECTED ASPECTS Robert Faracik – Mirosław Mika – Robert Pawlusiński………………………………….137 THE CONSTRUCTION OF ETHNIC IDENTITY OF SUCCESSFUL GYPSIES/TRAVELLERS IN ENGLAND Kinga Szabó-Tóth………………………………………………………………………………153 DEVELOPMENT POSSIBILITIES OF THE PERIPHERIES…………….173 THE REGIONAL ECONOMIC BACKGROUND OF THE ROMA EMPLOYMENT IN NORTHEASTERN HUNGARY AFTER THE TURN OF THE MILLENIUM Ernő Molnár…………………………………………………………………………………….175 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES IN PERIPHERAL RURAL TERRITORIES OF BORSOD-ABAÚJ-ZEMPLÉN COUNTY Virag Havasi……………………………………………………………………………………188 PRO-POOR TOURISM (PPT) AS A TOOL FOR POVERTY REDUCTION IN ROMA COMMUNITIES IN SLOVAKIA Jana Kolesárová………………………………………………………………………………..205 THE SPATIAL ASPECTS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE TOURISTIC DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES IN THE BORDER MICROREGIONS OF HUNGARY Zoltán Bujdosó – János Pénzes………………………………………………………………226

FOREWORD

‘Roma population on the peripheries of the Visegrad countries’ is the title of the project initiated by the Department of Social Geography and Regional Development Planning at the University of Debrecen (Hungary), the Institute of Sociology at the University of Miskolc (Hungary), the Department of Geography at the University of Presov in Presov (Slovakia), the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow (Poland), and the Department of Geography at the J. E. Purkinje University in Usti nad Labem (Czech Republic). The one year project was financed and supported by the Standard Grant (no. 21120080) of the International Visegrad Fund. The research project aimed to illustrate the spatial distribution and social status of Roma people in the peripheral areas of the Visegrad countries with emphasis on the potential breaking points. The experiences of the situation and the particular problems of the Roma population in the investigated territory were discussed at international conferences within the framework of the project. Common research methodology was harmonized by the different aspects of inquiry. The contents of the presentations were published and disclosed to the public in the form of books (like this volume of studies) in order to support the closing up of the population living in the peripheries of the investigated territory.

In the first phase of the project, the researchers represented the most important problems of the investigated areas as well as the possibilities that are appropriate for being considered during a conference organized in Debrecen (19-20. March 2012). This conference created a starting-point with the overview of the methodological issues, with the discovery of the social-economic problems and ethnic processes of the most backward areas with special attention to the Roma population in the four Central-European countries. The Respected Reader can find keynote studies in connection with the presentations about the listed topics in the current volume. These analyses intend to assist the decision-makers and stakeholders of the “closer” as well as the “more distant” Europe in order to take well-considered and appropriate steps to change the situation of the peripheries, and in particular the Roma inhabitants, in the Visegrád countries.

The Editors

SPATIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ROMA POPULATION

7 8 István Süli-Zakar1

THE QUESTION OF THE ROMA’S INTEGRATION IN EUROPE AND HUNGARY

Motto:

“If you are the Gypsies then I do not belong to you. I shall not be angry with the mainstream society just because many of you expect me to do so. And those who expect it, do so because then I would myself also melt into the gypsy “brotherhood” which is held together by nothing else but blaming the majority for everything.”

(István Forgács)

Introduction

For six countries of the European Union (and two candidate countries) one of the most urgent – perhaps the principal – internal political problems in the twenty-first century shall be the integration of the gypsy population living mostly in deep poverty among the circumstances of the demographic boom. In ten countries of East Central Europe and the Balkan 10-15% of the population are already “Roma” and in about 25 years this ratio is expected to double – in parallel with the rapid decrease of the mainstream society. The migration attempts of the gypsies – it can be seen more and more clearly – mostly end in failure, the gypsies of South Eastern Europe are forced to remain on their homelands. However, here in the “second speed” EU Member States, which they are still the citizens of, due to the protracted socio-economic problems, only limited financial sources shall be available for financing their integration.

1 DSc, University professor, University of Debrecen, Department of Social Geography and Regional Development Planning, e-mail: [email protected]

9 Origin and early migration of the gypsies

When the ancestors of the gypsies appeared in Central and Western Europe in the beginning of the fifteenth century, they rumoured about themselves that they come from Egypt and they are the expelled children of the pharaohs. First, István Vági, a Hungarian student studying in Holland, noticed in 1776 that the language of the Gypsies settling down in the confines of his village and that of the students from India studying with him at the university were very similar. Linguistics has proven since then that the “Romani” language of the Gypsies (its Central Eastern European , the ) belongs to the Indo-European languages, and within it the Indo-Iranian languages, and they are direct descendants of the “sacred” language of the Indo-Aryans, the Sanskrit. The members of the so-called Dardic family of languages which are the closest to the ancient Sanskrit language – besides the Gypsy language – are the Shin and the Kashmiri. These languages today are spoken in Northwest India, in the Kashmiri valley and its environs, in the geopolitically vulnerable Indian-Pakistani-Chinese border region. In the western peripheries of Jammu and Kashmir – mainly on the area under Pakistani invasion – today there are still Gujarati and Gaddi nomads who are linguistic relatives, of whom most probably the ancestors of the European Gypsies broke away in the third-sixth centuries. During their westward migration linguistically related groups remained behind on the areas of the present-day Pakistan (Kovaris) and Afghanistan (Kafirs). During their migration to Europe they outpaced the Seljuk Turks in time, who migrated into a similar direction, and the Arab invasion. Significant Iranian (Persian), Armenian and Greek influences can be detected in the “Romani” language but the Seljuk Turk and Arabic influences are missing. The ancestors of the Gypsies, therefore, migrated here crossing the areas of the Persian Sassanid Kingdom (226-651) and Armenia prior to the Arab invasion (644/652),

10 and reached the provinces of the Byzantine Empire in Asia Minor. They crossed through the Bosporus to Europe between the 9th and 12th centuries. (In 1009, for instance, the Gypsy women involved in fortunetelling and enchantment were banned from Constantinople by a decree.) The language of those who migrated to the Balkans was affected by a significant South Slavic influence. Probably they were first called “Tsigans” in the Byzantine Empire, the word comes from the Greek “Atsigan” (= separate, outcast, outlaw, not paying taxes), and was added to the through Serb intermediation (cigan) as early as the 15th century (Havas, G. 1989; Gyergyói, S.1990). In the feudal Europe, the first reliable written evidence about the appearance of the Gypsies was the entry in Brassó dated 1416 which we can find in the annual report of the town of Brassó. In this entry the precise Saxons mentioned money and provisions for “Lord Emaus from Egypt and his companions”. The letter of safe conduct by the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund in 1417 and his royal grant of liberty, which he issued in 1423 as the king of the Hungarian people, are regarded by many experts as forgeries. The fact is that the Gypsies reached almost all corners of Europe during the fifteenth century. The initial friendly reception, however, soon turned into persecution, expulsion and slaughter in most of the countries (Germany 1497, England 1501, 1560, France 1565, Denmark 1662, Prussia 1711, etc.), and the Gypsies were expelled from the majority of Europe. They could hope for greater tolerance in Spain, Wales, in the Hungarian Kingdom, in the Balkan states of the Turkish (Ottoman) Empire (Havasalföld/Wallachia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece). The small number of Gypsies got through the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries in these countries, on the periphery of the society, serving the pre-industrial revolution mainstream society at some places as subjected slaves, at other places as entertainers, performers or repairer- manufacturers, horse-dealers, etc.

11 Gypsies in Hungary

As a consequence of the persecution of Gypsies in Western Europe, besides Spain and the Balkan the Hungarian Kingdom became the asylums of the Gypsy population by the eighteenth century. The Hungarian Gypsies, usually living on the premises of the villages and towns (in Gypsy rows) or in the forests, worked as day-labourers in agriculture, manufactured hand-made crafts, traded, repaired household appliances, were involved in mudworks, entertained on markets and fairs, then created the Hungarian Gypsy music which later became world famous. They forgot their ‘Carpathian’ language during the centuries, became Romanian- speaking in Southern and in the Banat, nevertheless became Hungarian-speaking on the majority of the area of the country (Kertesi, G. – Kézdi, G. 1998, Glatz, F. 1999). From the end of the eighteenth century the newcomers arriving to the country, the Romani speaking (so-called Vlach) Gypsies were not regarded as real Gypsies because of their more integrated lifestyle, and were called “Romungro” (meaning Hungarian man) somewhat pejoratively. The in-migration of the “Vlach Gypsies” whose name was given by Kamill Erdős, who is still regarded the most significant representative of the gypsy researches in Hungary, for the Gypsies coming from Wallachia became more intensive in the nineteenth century, and reached its peak especially after freeing the Gypsy slaves there in 1855. It has been the “childhood sickness” of the Hungarian state and local government leaders for centuries, even though they worked on the “Gypsy case” with a humanitarian intention, that they mixed the Gypsy ethnic groups, and treated them as a homogeneous social layer, and extended their measures usually brought against the least integrated Gypsies over the entire Gypsy population. This mergence was usually manifested in the prejudices among the majority population. The positive intentions and initiatives

12 of Maria Theresa, Joseph II or the Archduke Joseph August of all went wrong. The first Gypsy census in Hungary was held in 1782: at that time there were only 43,738 Gypsies. Besides, the most precise statistical records about the Gypsy population – perhaps to this very day – were made in Hungary from a scientific point of view (Kemény, I. 1997). Due to its statistical precision and accuracy – the works of the “Gypsy census” on 31 January 1893 performed by the National Hungarian Royal Statistical Office (NHRSO) – the census, which was national (except for and Croatia), was not based on self-admission/definition but on the principle that “Gypsy is a person who is considered Gypsy by his/her environment”. In 1893, on the area of the Hungarian Kingdom, there were 274,940 Gypsy people which was about 60,000 more than the estimates in 1873. It proves that the inflow of the Gypsies from Wallachia to the country was still active in these decades. At the time of the census the proportion of the Gypsy population in Hungary was 1.7%, and in the Transylvanian counties it was 5% (Kocsis, K. – Kovács, Z. 1999). The moving and settling down of the Beas Gypsies from the Banat to Southern also happened in the second half of the nineteenth century, however, they were also included in the estimates of 1873. The name Beas comes from the Romanian „báiás” (= miner) word, and refers to their ancestors who were mainly involved in panning in Southern Transylvania, and in the Banat. Their language is the Banat dialect of the archaic , and they specialised in woodworking when migrating to Baranya and Somogy counties. This is why the Hungarian people called them tub-making Gypsies since until the appearance of plastic they made the basic utensils for the rural households. The data of the 1893 survey – despite the expectations – proved that 88.55% of the Gypsies in Hungary led a settled life, 7.42% had been living on the same place

13 for a longer time, and only 4.03 were wanderers by all means. (Using the name of the period: tent Gypsy.) According to the data of the statistical publication, there was a considerable number of Gypsies speaking in Gypsy languages and leading a migrant lifestyle in the counties of Northeast Hungary (Trencsény, Nyitra, Zólyom, Árva, etc.) where in fact today there are no Gypsies. This suggests that those who arrived from the Romanian Old Kingdom (Regat) mainly used Hungary as a transit country on their way to Western Europe (even to America). According to the census of 1893, from among the school age children 69.15% did not attend school but 69.2% of the men worked on a regular basis. 36.7% of them were employed as day-labourers, 28.9% as artisans, and 3.6% as musicians. The ratio of artisans is especially high since the ratio of artisans within the average population in Hungary was much lower at that time. A significant part of the Gypsy artisans at that time were metalworkers (more than half of the smiths in the villages were Gypsies), and the number of locksmiths and nail-smiths was also high. From among the woodworkers, the tub-makers and the spindle-makers, from among the builders (specialised in mudworks) the brickmakers and the plasterers represented the majority (Havas, G. 1982). In the twentieth century, however, the Gypsy artisans got into crisis because after the industrial revolution the manufacturing industry provided the population with cheap mass-products, and thus their enterprises went bankrupt. As a result of the changed entertainment habits, the Gypsy musicians also got into crisis. Following the Peace Dictate of Trianon, the Gypsy population, whose number fell to 70 thousand, of the country with its small area also shared the consequences of the persistent economic crisis. (Within the boundaries of the historical Hungary the highest numbers of Gypsies were found in Transylvania, and in the counties of the Partium, Eastern Upper Hungary and Banat.)

14 On the area of the present-day Hungary, bigger Gypsy communities appeared in the northeastern and southern Transdanubian counties as a consequence of the demographic boom evolving from the 1920s which, for instance, lagged behind the demographic transition characterising the Hungarian population (Kocsis, K. – Kovács, Z. 1999). The intensive natural increase of the Gypsy population is proven by the – so- called council level – Gypsy census in 1984. This census again did not include Budapest, and again it was not based on self-admission. (On the censuses held in the twentieth century – when the commissioners were allowed to ask about the nationality – usually only one-third of the Gypsy population declared itself Gypsies.) During the Kádár Era the Gypsy population was primarily considered as a population group struggling with social problems, and as it becomes clear from the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party Central Committee Political Bureau Decision in 1961 assimilation was considered as the topmost solution for the social problems. Following the decision brought by the Political Bureau, the first government resolution dated in 1964 which ordered the liquidation of the colonies not suiting the so-called social requirement. At the same time, the socialist industrialisation, and the considerable constructions resulted in the entry into employment of the majority of the Gypsy males. In the mining and industrial areas of Borsod and Nógrád 85-90% of the working-age Gypsy men were employed, and the Gypsy workers from Szabolcs and Hajdú-Bihar were travelled by the “black trains” to the construction in the capital and in Transdanubia. The change of regime, nevertheless, blocked (and even set back) the integration of the Gypsy population in Hungary, too. In sum, after two decades we may establish that the biggest losers of the change of regime in our country were definitely the Gypsies.

15 Demographic boom and migration attempts of the gypsy population

The Gypsies of Europe has been endeavouring at establishing international organisations since the late nineteenth century. This endeavour succeeded in 1969 (Romani Union), then on 8-12 April 1971 when the Gypsy representatives of many countries met in London who agreed that this event was the “First World Romani Congress”, and on the last day of the World Congress they established the “International Romani Union”. For the majority of the participants was inclined to universalise the “Romani” name of the Southeastern European Gypsies, who use the , out of the many Gypsy self-labelling used in Europe (Dom, Lom, Rom, , , Sinto, , Manush, Kalo, , Egyptian, Ashkali, etc.). (Of course, some of them rejected it.) The word “Rom” in Hungarian means: man, husband (which expression was not used for children and women). The plural of the word “Rom” is “Roma” meaning: “men”. In the English and French texts if the new expression is used instead of the formerly used expression then usually use the word “Rom” and add the plural marker “s” (Roms). In the Hungarian media (of course, not in the medias (!) since the Greek word in this case is “medium” and its plural is “media”, just like in Lovari language it is Rom-Roma) the word “Roma” has been replacing the word “cigány” in the past twenty years, that is the plural replaces the singular. Therefore, it may often occur that the already plural form (Roma) is put into plural again: “Romák (Romas)”! (The word “Romák” and “Romas”, therefore is a grammatical nonsense.) During the four decades which has passed since the foundation of the International Romani Union (IRU) the number of the European Gypsies doubled, or even almost tripled.

16 Table I: Estimated number of the Gypsy population (min.-max.) in the countries of Europe (2011)

Country Minimum Maximum Country Minimum Maximum 1,800,000 2,500,000 Bosnia-Herzegovina 40,000 50,000 Bulgaria 700,000 800,000 Netherlands 35,000 40,000 Spain 650,000 800,000 Croatia 35,000 40,000 Serbia 550,000 600,000 Moldavia 30,000 35,000 Hungary 550,000 600,000 30,000 35,000 Slovakia 500,000 520,000 Ireland 22,000 28,000 Turkey 400,000 500,000 Austria 20,000 25,000 France 280,000 340,000 Sweden 15,000 20,000 Czech Republic 250,000 300,000 10,000 15.000 Russia 250,000 300,000 Belorussia 10,000 15.000 Macedonia 250,000 260,000 8,000 10.000 200,000 220,000 Finland 7,000 9.000 Greece 160,000 200,000 Lithuania 3,000 4,000 Germany 110,000 130,000 Latvia 3,000 3,500 Albania 100,000 120,000 Denmark 1,500 2,000 90,000 120,000 Estonia 1,000 1,500 Italy 90,000 110,000 Norway 800 1,000 Kosovo 90,000 100,000 Cyprus 700 1,000 Poland 50,000 60,000 Luxembourg 100 150 Portugal 40,000 50,000 Europe in total 7.4 million 9 million

The Gypsy representatives gathering in London in 1971 claimed that they represented 3-3.5 million European Gypsies, while today the number of the Gypsies on our continent is around 7.4-9.0 million even according to moderate estimates (Table I). The report prepared for the European Union during the Hungarian presidency mentions 10-12 million European Gypsies which also proves that the Gypsy population at present undergoes a significant demographic boom. Nowadays, in Europe – preceding even the Albanian – the Gypsies boast the highest natural increase (Szoboszlai, Zs. 2003). The preamble of the Pan European Roma Strategy mentions 10-12 million Gypsies, and considers them as the largest ethnic minority in the European Union. The geographical distribution of the Gypsy population may be characterised as it follows: besides the Spanish Gypsies their settlement is the densest on the areas stretching from the Southern Balkan through the Carpathian Basin to the Sudetes

17 in the Czech Republic (Figure 1). Their highest numbers can be found in Wallach and Transylvania in Romania, in the western and northeastern counties of Bulgaria, in the northeast and in in Hungary, and Eastern Slovakia, and in the Sudetenland in the Czech Republic.

Figure 1: The distribution/spread of the Gypsies in Europe (Virtual “Gypsyland”)

Unfortunately, in the above mentioned countries the political transformations undermined the socio-economic and social accomplishment formerly achieved by the Gypsies. The intensive natural increase produced by the demographic boom made things worse which together led considerable groups of Gypsies to try to flee to rich countries in the west. To prevent that the target countries brought significant, often inhuman, measures. Canada, for instance, earlier reset the visa requirement for the Czech Republic, and is considering it for Hungary; or, for example, Italy and France in particular drastically deported the refugees to Romania and Bulgaria (Kovács, A. 2002).

18 The leading bodies and leaders of the European Union – in my opinion – do not treat the fate of the southeast European Gypsies in accordance with their importance. Of course, I do not mean that they do not react to the atrocities – targeting the Gypsies – experienced in the relevant countries. Even so, most often their criticism concerning the human rights and the social issues are very sharp and harsh regarding the local politics and the mainstream society. The case of the “largest ethnic minority” in the European Union, however, – it seems – do not wish to treat and handle it as a common problem. In the first half of 2011, during the period of the Hungarian Presidency of the European Union, the “Pan European Roma Strategy” was planned to be prepared. Instead of the Pan European Roma Strategy, however, what they approved received the title “EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies”. The two titles, of course, – by essence – fundamentally differ from one another. The approved version in fact made the task, obligation and financial burden of the integration of the rapidly growing number of Gypsies the “internal policy” for countries which are in fact otherwise also “second speed” burdened with socio-economic crisis.

Integration or permanent ethnic conflict

Of course, there are significant differences between the ethnic groups of the Gypsies by countries, and even within the countries, regarding their relationship with the mainstream society, and attitude towards education, regular work, subsistence crime, and the European values in general. Based on experiences gained during the past centuries, nevertheless, we may establish that the Hungarian society – and in particular the politicians – did not take it into consideration, and usually regarded the Gypsies as a homogeneous social (ethnic) group, and brought

19 their decisions and regulations while usually concentrating on the least integrated Gypsies. This was offending and often detrimental for those who are more advanced in the integration process, and also hindered their further progress in general (Csengey, D. 1982). Nowadays, the estimated 600-640,000 Gypsies in Hungary – according to the mostly mutual opinion of the experts – can be divided into three large ethnic groups (Vekerdi, J. 1989): a) The so-called “Hungarian Gypsies” who have been living in Hungary since the medieval centuries – in Romani: Romungros – constitute the largest group with their share of approximately 70%. Their old language, the Carpathian Gypsy language became almost completely extinct, and Hungarian has become their mother-tongue for many generations now. At the time of the censuses, the majority declares himself not Gypsies but Hungarians. b) The so-called “Vlach Gypsies” moved from Wallachia to Hungary mainly during the nineteenth century, and they constitute approximately 21% of the total Gypsy population in Hungary. Their language – the Lovari dialect of the Romani language – is spoken by most of them even today, and they are the ones who use the “Rom” (=man, husband; plural: Roma) word for themselves. c) The Beas live in the Southern Transdanubian counties who also moved to their current habitation during the nineteenth century from the Banat and Southern Transylvania. This ethnic group represents approximately 8% of the Gypsies living in Hungary, and in my experience they hold on to their language the most insistently which is the archaic Banat dialect of Romanian. The remaining 1% is represented by the small Gypsy communities (Sintos, Vend Gypsies) living mainly along the western border of the country (Erdős, K.).

The geographical distribution of the ethnic groups was defined with the help of the data of the 2001 census. I admit that this attempt is not incontrovertible. On the one hand, during the 2001 census only about one-third of the Hungarian Gypsies (190,046 people) declared themselves to be the members of the Gypsy (Roma, Beas, Romani) nationality. The ratios, however, may be regarded as being at least informative. Of those who belong to the Gypsy nationality, 25.6% (48,685 people)

20 claimed that his/her mother-tongue was not Hungarian (or did not use Hungarian – that is the Romani, or Beas languages – within the family or with friends). The ratio of non-Hungarian speaking Gypsies shows significant differences by counties (Figure 2). Their ratio is the lowest in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county (2.7%) where the Gypsy population is almost totally represented by Romungros (there are larger Vlach communities in Kesznyéten, Ózd, and Miskolc). The ratio of non- Hungarian speaking Gypsies is also low in Heves, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg counties. It is around the national average in Budapest, Nógrád, Hajdú-Bihar and Békés counties where there are more considerable numbers of Vlach Gypsy communities beside the Hungarian Gypsies. Of those who belong to the Gypsy nationality in the Danube- Interfluve and in Northern Transdanubia approximately 50% are not Hungarian-speaking, and here the majority of the Gypsies are Vlach Gypsies. The strongest relationship was measured between the non-Hungarian speaking Gypsies and those who belong to the Gypsy nationality in South Transdanubia. Here 60-70% of those who declared themselves Gypsies also said that their mother-tongue was not Hungarian. Based on the above data – and further descriptions in the related literature – the geographical distribution of the ethnic groups of the Hungarian gypsies can be drawn. (Figure 3) The Romungros mostly live in Budapest, in the counties in the central part of the country but especially in Northeast Hungary. In the Danube Tisza Interfluve and half, or more than half, of the Gypsy communities in Northern Transdanubia may be listed as Vlach Gypsies (Rom -s = Roma). In the case of the Beas Gypsies, who hold on to their Romanian mother-tongue the most insistently, there is almost a full coincidence between the nationality and the Non-Hungarian speaking group.

21

Figure 2: Ratio of the non-Hungarian speaking Gypsies (48,685 people) from among the people belonging to the Gypsy (Roma, Beas, Romani) nationality (190,046 people) by counties (2001). National average: 25.6%

The Gypsy traditions are kept the most intensively by the Vlach Gypsies, while the Romungros are the closest to the mainstream society. At the time of the political transformation almost all of the working-age Romungro men were employees: mainly worked in the construction industry, processing industry and agriculture (Csalag, Zs. 1973). From the aspect of the society the protracted demographic boom is the central question of the Roma integration. In Hungary the demographic boom of the Gypsies started much later than that of the majority (Hungarians and minorities) population. That of the latter began in the seventies-eighties of the nineteenth century, while that of the Gypsies began only in the third decade of the twentieth century when the health acts and hygienic rules became compulsorily extended over everyone.

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Figure 3: Ethnic groups of the Gypsies in Hungary

The demographic “transition” starting after that still lasts in their case, though it stopped in the case of the Hungarian population by the end of the fifties, and the so-called natural decrease may be experienced in our county from 1981 (This is an average value which also includes the significant natural increase of the Gypsies.) (Kemény, I. 1976). The differences may be observed between the ethnic groups of the Gypsies in the field of demography, too. In Tiszavasvári there are considerable Romungro as well as Vlach Gypsy communities, and according to the sociological inventory conducted among them the Hungarian Gypsies are on the downslope of the demographic boom, while in the case of the Vlach Gypsies the demographic boom is still largely ongoing (Figure 4) (Lengyel, G. 2004, Fónai, M. – Vitál A., 2005).

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Figure 4: Distribution of the ethnic groups of the Gypsies in Tiszavasvári by age groups Source: Based on date provided by Lengyel, G. (2004) and Fónai, M. – Vitál A., (2005), edited by the author

As opposed to the rapidly ageing mainstream society, the age structure of the Gypsies in Hungary is very juvenile. The ratio of the Gypsy children among the kindergarten and school age children already reaches 20% (Forray, R. K. – Hegedűs, T. A. 2003), and in some peripheral and micro-village regions it exceeds 50% (Figure 5). In Hungary having many children is unfortunately an economic constraint for the majority of the Gypsy families. Among the family incomes the allowances and subsidies for maternity are the most important, and these constitute the most considerable part of the incomes. According to the survey conducted in Tiszavasvári, there are significant differences between the two Gypsies ethnic groups of the town in this field as well (Figure 6) (Lengyel, G. 2004, Fónai, M. – Vitál A., 2005).

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Figure 5: The ratio of the Gypsy children among the kindergarten and school age children is over 50%

The migration attempts of the European Gypsies in the past two decades ended in failure on the whole. No considerable masses should expect in the future to be able to move successfully to the wealthier countries of Europe or the world. Thus, they must live here on the common motherland, and find (or jointly create) the acceptable culture of living together. This shall not be simple because the two lifestyles can be hardly reconciled, especially in the mirror of the demographic boom. The Hungarian society is ageing rapidly, is decreasing rapidly, while the Gypsy society is increasing rapidly, and its age structure is exceptionally juvenile. The result of the process will be that one part of the society will not be able to live in the old way, and the other part will not want to live in the old way.

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Figure 6: Income conditions in the households of the two Gypsy ethnic groups in Tiszavasvári Source: Based on date provided by Lengyel, G. (2004) and Fónai, M. – Vitál A., (2005), edited by the author

From the aspect of the mainstream society the deep prejudice is a serious obstacle in the living together. In Tiszavasvári, in the Romungro-Hungarian coexistence zone – in those streets where almost half of the population are Gypsies, and mixed marriages are also frequent – we asked the people about the prejudices. The Hungarians said that their parents trained into them the prejudices against Gypsies which are strengthened by the experienced negative events and weakened by the positive experiences in their own lives. The experiences of the direct neighbourhood are usually positive, the Gypsies buying houses in the Hungarian streets mostly keep their houses in good condition, cultivate their gardens, and the number of thefts did not increase in parallel with their settling in. At the same time, it is also a fact that the settlers primarily represent those who accept or wish integration. This also proves that of the interviewees the

26 Hungarians evaluated their coexistence not always in a positive way while the replying Gypsies all evaluated positively the Gypsy-Hungarian coexistence here. I consider the discrimination between the Gypsy and Hungarian population applicable only from the aspect of the lifestyle, but not from the aspect of the ethnic or nationality criteria. (Though, I experience that some Gypsy leaders would expect it.) I support my opinion with the following reasons: 1. all Hungarian Gypsies are Hungarian citizens, that is they are Hungarians by the state national criteria; 2. at least 80-85% of the Hungarian Gypsies speak only Hungarian, their mother-tongue is Hungarian, that is based on the linguistic-cultural criteria the majority forms part of the language-based Hungarian nation; 3. at the latest censuses based on self-declaration (we do not yet know the data of the 2011 census) two-thirds of the Gypsy population of the country declared themselves Hungarian, and of course the principle is true for them as well: Hungarian is the person who declares himself Hungarian.

In the beginning of the article, I borrowed the motto from István Forgács who compared the Gypsy question in Hungary to the catastrophe of the Titanic. I hope that we are not there yet but the present situation is already critical. To be able to change the situation together, the rational arguments and advice must be taken into consideration – whichever side it comes from. I find the words of Béla Szakcsi Lakatos true which I quote below. The world-famous musician replied to a question of the reporter woman of the HVG (Weekly World Economy) (HVG, Issue 9, 2012, pp.40-41): “I do not like the word Roma. We are Gypsies. The issue of the Gypsies has been handled in a wrong way by everyone so far. Lot of money has disappeared since the transformation without any benefits. The other problem is that the Gypsies are also divided, sometimes they stand on the left, and sometimes on the right. I encourage them not to stand on any of the sides because there is an agreement in the question of the Gypsies. Everyone acknowledges that this issue needs to be solved. They speak a lot about it but no one does for it.”

27 Conclusions

1. The European Gypsies constitute one ethnic group but do not constitute a homogeneous community. Their various groups stand on different integration levels and all strategies focusing on them should take that into consideration. 2. In East Central Europe, in the case of a considerable economic growth a significant part of the Gypsies are ready to take on jobs and to identify with the goals of the mainstream society. 3. The demographic processes can be predicted (by 2050 Europe shall have approximately 20-25 million Gypsy inhabitants, and within it in Hungary the population of about 8 million shall consist of about 6 million Hungarians and about 2 million Gypsies). 4. The number of conflict situations will be increasing, the differing demographic situation shall strengthen the contrasts between the two lifestyles. 5. The wealthy countries shall set more and more obstacles into the way of the Rom(a) migration. 6. Education shall get a strategic role in the integration of the Gypsy population – the primary role of the education shall be the conveyance of the European values. 7. The prejudices developed in the mainstream society can be reduced only through the strength of the positive examples. 8. The relationship between the “Gypsy identity” and the “European image” must be clarified: the answer must be found to the question whether it is possible at all to create their harmony.

28 9. The leaders of the Gypsies must represent the European values (Ten Commandments of Moses, respect for private property, good housekeeping, etc.) and must instil the importance of integration. 10. The socio-economic integration of the Gypsies is a pan European interest and task. Catching up may be successful only with the effective sacrifice of the European Union. (The Gypsies probably shall not be the “official” ethnic minority of the European Union but the wealthiest countries of Europe should also make sacrifices for their getting along on their motherlands so that the European Union should not fall into two parts.)

REFERENCES

Csalag, Zs. (1973): Etnikum? Faj? Réteg? Adalékok a „cigányság” fogalmához, Világosság, 1. Csengey, D. (1982): Felnőni a talajig. Változatok a cigánysorsra, Valóság, 2.sz. Fónai, M. – Vitál A. (2005): A tiszavasvári magyarcigány és oláhcigány lakosság szociális helyzete és egészségi állapota. – Helyi szociális ellátórendszer: Bódi Ferenc (Szerk.), Budapest MTA PTI 2008 Agroinform Kiadó és Nyomda Kft., Budapest Forray, R. K. – Hegedűs, T. A. (2003): Cigányok, iskola, oktatáspolitika. – Oktatáskutató Intézet, Új Mandátum Könyvkiadó, Budapest Glatz, F. (szerk.) (1999): A cigányok Magyarországon – Magyarország az ezredfordulón, MTA, Dabas Jegyzet Kft, AliPrint Bt., Budapest 269 p. Gyergyói, S. (ed.) (1990): Kirekesztéstől a beilleszkedésig I.-II. kötet, Mozaik Kiadó Iroda, Piremon Nyomda, Debrecen, 691 p. Havas, G. (1982): A baranyai teknővájó cigányok – Cigányvizsgálatok (szerk. Andor M.) Művelődéskutató Intézet, Budapest Havas, G. (1989): A cigány közösségek történeti típusairól, Kultúra és Közösség 4. pp. 3-17 Havas, G. – Kemény, I. (1992): Cigányvizsgálat – mintavételi koncepció. Kézirat, Budapest Kemény, I. (1974): A magyarországi cigánylakosság, Valóság 1.sz., pp. 63-92 Kemény, I. (1997): A magyarországi roma (cigány) népességről, Magyar Tudomány 6. pp. 644-656

29 Kemény, I. (ed.) (1976): Beszámoló a magyarországi cigányok helyzetével foglalkozó 1971-ben végzett kutatásokról, MTA Szociológiai Kutató Intézet, Budapest, 40 p. Kertesi, G. – Kézdi, G. (1998) A cigány népesség Magyarországon – Dokumentáció és adattár, Socio-typo., Budapest Kocsis, K. – Kovács, Z. (1999): A cigány népesség társadalomföldrajza – Magyarország az ezredfordulón MTA, Budapest, pp. 13-19 Kovács, A. (ed.) (2002): Roma migráció, Sík Kiadó, Nagy és Társa Kiadó és Nyomda Kft., Budapest 184 p. Ladányi, J. (1989): A lakásrendszer változásai és a cigány népesség térbeli elhelyezkedésének átalakulása Budapesten, Valóság 8.sz. Lengyel, G. (2004): Tiszavasvári cigány népessége. – Kemény I. – Janky B.- Lengyel G. (szerk.) A magyarországi cigányság 1971 – 2003. – MTA Etnikai– nemzeti Kisebbségkutató Intézet, Gondolat Kiadó, Budapest pp.157-180. Solt, O. – Havas, G. (ed.) (1982): Cigányvizsgálatok, Műhely sorozat 3., Művelődéskutató Intézet, Budapest Szoboszlai, Zs. (ed.) (2003): Cigányok a szociális földprogramban, Gondolat Kiadó, Budapest, 292 p. Utasi, Á. – Mészáros, Á. (ed.) (1991): Cigány lét. – MTA Politikai Tudományok Intézete, Budapest Vekerdi, J. (1984): Nemzetiség vagy életforma?, Forrás 3. pp. 44-59 Vekerdi, J. (ed.) (1989): Erdős Kamill cigánytanulmányai, Békéscsaba

30 Attila Papp Z.2

RATIO OF ROMA STUDENTS IN HUNGARY AND SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF SCHOOLS

In Hungary the so-called National Assessment of Basic Competencies began in the autumn of 2001 which involve all students from the 6th, 8th and 10th grade starting the 2007/2008 academic year.3 The Hungarian assessments of the basic competencies, as well as the international assessments carried out at certain periods (like the PISA assessment conducted every third year from 2000,4 the IEA TIMSS measuring trends in student achievement in mathematics and science organised every four years, and the PIRLS assessments testing the reading and literacy achievement every five years5), mean a particularly important feedback about the entire educational system. The national assessments of basic competencies have had two objectives from the outset: besides using standardised tests to ascertain student achievement, it also intended to contribute to the development of the measuring-evaluating “culture” of the schools. The latter is also promoted by the publicly available data through the internet on the level of schools, and thus possessing these the heads of the institutions may take measures to improve effectiveness, and the existing and potential users of the school may get a picture about the services and achievements of the pedagogical work in the school expressed in competencies. The publishing of the results also contributes to the accountability of schools, since in accordance with the legal obligations, if the

2 PhD, associate professor, University of Miskolc, Institute of Sociology; e-mail: [email protected] The author received Bolyai János Research Scholarship at the time of producing the present paper. 3 The national reports on the competency assessments between 2003 and 2009 are available on the www.kompetenciameres.hu website. See more on the brief description of the competency assessments, and their acceptance by the headmasters in: Horn – Sinka 2006; Hermann – Molnár, 2010. 4 The latest report in Hungarian: Balázs – Ostorics – Szalay – Szepesi, 2010. 5 See Balázsi – Balkányi – Felvégi – Szabó, 2007.

31 students of an institution do not achiev certain minimum skill level then the institution is obliged to make an action plan.6 The databases for the assessments of basic competencies, however, may be also used for the purposes of further researches and analyses, all the more, since the data collections organised regularly on an annual basis include some important aspects of the internal and external world of schools, and also the mapping of the family backgrounds of the children. During the assessments, questionnaires are used for the students, the schools as well as the locations. The questionnaire for the students can be filled in by the students together with the parents, and the questions cover the family and social background, school career and the activities outside of school. The “target group” of the questionnaire for schools are the headmasters of the schools, and besides the school career of the headmaster, data was also asked in relation to financial and human resources (concerning the pedagogues) of the institution in the questionnaire. The questionnaire with regard to the location, targeted the units of each institution with separate addresses: the questionnaire includes – among many others – details concerning the infrastructural and human resource conditions of the school unit, the social composition of the students, the composition of the pedagogues and their participation in further trainings, the trainings and training forms offered by the school, the students recruiting methods, etc. The databases created on the basis of the results of the three questionnaires may be linked in many ways. In addition to the ID provided by the Ministry of Education, the schools were also given a private code, and these codes can be assigned to the schools of the students. Thus, for example, the background indexes generated on the basis of the students’ questionnaires, can be aggregated for the school or location levels and can be also

6 See the relevant paragraphs of Articles 40 and 99 of Act LXXIX of 1993 on public education. For the statistical arguments and problems related to the competency assessments, and a brief evaluation of the Hungarian practice see: Kertesi, Gábor 2008.

32 used in the other two databases; and similarly, the individual student competencies can be also recognised as averaged values on the school/location levels. It must be noted that the students are given their individual assessment identifier from 2008 which enables also the monitoring of the results achieved during their school career.7 The current analysis is built on location level data since the related questionnaire contains one question concerning the ethnic origin of the students. In the block of questions inquiring into the social composition of the students of the school, the questionnaire asks about the percentage estimation of the Roma ratio of the primary school students.8 The question was exactly as it says:

‘‘In your opinion, what is the PERCENTAGE RATIO on your location of those among the primary school students who can be characterised by the following features?

(…) Of Roma origin ...... ______% (…)”

It is not the aim of our study to further press questions well known in the literature like “who is the Gypsy?”. We know that in Hungary there is a magnitudinal difference between the number of Romas by self-categorising or self-admittance (also measured by the census), and the Romas calculated by external categorisation – but it is the same anywhere else. We cannot however neglect that when an institutional leader provides an estimate for his own school

7 For the overview of the main characteristics of the Ministry of Education and Culture databases, and its potentials for analyses see Hermann – Molnár, op. cit. 8 The questionnaire includes a question concerning the number Roma pedagogues. The present paper does not include the analysis of that topic.

33 then that is presumed to surely have some local relevance, and this may be reflected in various phenomena from the way the school accesses resources through the application of a variety of pedagogical methods to the selection of the thematic of the extension trainings as well (for example, in the kind of tenders it participates). At the same time, the authors think that the statistical summing up of the replies given to this question provides a good picture about the schooling situation of the Romas (that is, who are regarded Roma). In this paper, the database of the competence assessment of 2009 in the primary schools with the eight class system is used,9 and a picture is sought about the schools with the help of the above ethnic indicator.

Proportion of the Roma students in the primary schools and their territorial distribution

During the survey in 2009 there was primary school training in the 8th grade on 2721 places (92% of the total number of training forms), secondary school training for 8th graders on 98 places (3.3%), while there was secondary school training for 6th graders in 140 school units (4.%). To the question regarding the ratio of the students with Roma origin in the studied place, 95% of the primary school places replied, and there were only 138 places which did not provide an answer – one- third of which were in Budapest. If we examine the distribution of the places by settlements answering and not answering, then it may be established that the settlement type significantly influences the answering10: the smaller settlements, villages are “more honest” so to say, that is, they are more likely to answer the ethnic questions than the schools in Budapest. They are presumably forced to a “hiding” strategy due to the sharper

9 Many thanks to the Educational Authority for making available the database for us. 10 Chi-square: 27.75, df=3, significance level: 0.000

34 school market conditions, and therefore they did not answer this question in a higher ratio.11 All these, probably are also bound up with the fact that on the smaller settlements the social control is more powerful, and therefore there cannot be too much deviation between the “ethnic self-declaration of the school” and the local public opinion; while on the bigger settlements, and in particular in Budapest, hiding may still have a room and the resulting presumed “profit” measured in the composition of the students. It follows also from this that in the case of the data rows by the settlement types described below the under-estimation of the Roma ratio in Budapest may be expected. It may be also observed that the family background index of the primary schools not answering the ethnic question is significantly higher than the national average but their mathematics performance is significantly lower than the national average. This indicates that these form a kind of “well-to-do weak school” group whose academic value-added is negative, therefore, it is understandable that they do not want to contribute to the further deterioration of their prestige by admitting any Roma proportion. The Roma proportion estimate value of the places answering the question on ethnicity weighed by the number of students on the national level is approximately 13%:12 which is a little bit higher in the primary schools but much lower among the six and eight graders in the secondary schools (1.3 and 3.4%, respectively). The designation of the school career of the Roma students, so to say, may be detected even on this early school level: in the training forms with higher

11 It may be experienced on the basis of the detailed description of the refusal to answer in the assessments of 2007 that the schools in Budapest and on the smaller settlements usually have a lower willingness to answer concerning all of the questions. For more details see MTA KTI 2008. 12 István Kemény and his fellows estimated the Roma population entering the school age 15 percent by 2008-2009. (Kemény – Janky – Lengyel, 2004. 18.) If we take into consideration the approximately 5 percent of the institutions refusing to answer (where presumably there is also Roma population) and the uncertainties related to the external categorisation of the Roma population, then the 13 percent ratio received as a result during the competency assessment supports the data provided by Kemény and his team.

35 competency assessment values (secondary schools) the ratio of Roma students is much lower. (Figure 1)

14,0 13,26 13,01

12,0

10,0

8,0 % 6,0

4,0 3,43

2,0 1,31

0,0 primary school secondary school secondary school 8th grade together (with 8 grades) (with 6 grades)

Figure 1: Estimated ratio of the Roma students13 –in accordance with the type of training Source: National Competency Assessment 2009 – research database of 8th grade students14

The Roma student proportion estimated to be 13% by the external categorisation provides a good opportunity also for estimating the number of the – socially constructed – Roma population. Projecting the 13% ratio to the group of 1st-8th grade students (in 2008/2009 there were approximately 789 thousand primary school, and 27 thousand secondary school students attending 5th-8th grade,15 meaning around 107 thousand people which is at the same time the absolute value corresponding the age group of 7-14 year olds.16 The 2001 census data estimated 17% for this age group within the Roma population,17 while the

13 When presenting the statistical data, the expression “Roma students” are used for those students of Roma origin in the primary schools and secondary schools who – regardless of the type of the training – belong to a given location (their national average is 13.1 percent). If we make a difference between the primary school and secondary schools students by the type of the training then it will be marked in the text. 14 The data for the academic year 2008/2009 presented in the paper were calculated with the help of the data included in this database, therefore it shall not be mentioned again in the rest of the paper. 15 Oktatás-statisztikai évkönyv 2008/2009. Budapest, 2009. 8. 16 Here we do not consider the number of the overage students. 17 http://www.nepszamlalas.hu/hun/kotetek/24/tables/loadcig2_1.html

36 research results of the team led by István Kemény said 20%.18 If on the basis of these we assume that this age group constitutes approximately 17-20% of the Roma population then on the basis of this age structure the number of the Roma population in Hungary may be projected to approximately 535-630 thousand by 2009. This value is in total harmony with the estimates by István Kemény and his team in 2003 who estimated the number of the Roma population to approximately 570 thousand (550-580 thousand) at that time,19 and also noted that the increase of the Roma population is around 10,000 per year.20 Examining the ratios of the Roma students in a regional distribution, we can confirm the peculiarities of statistically significant21 territorial distributions known also from other researches (north-south, and east-west oriented): in the Northeast Hungarian region almost one-third of the primary school students are regarded as of Roma origin, while in the Western and Central Transdanubian regions this ratio is only around 6-7%. Nevertheless, it can be also seen (Figure 2) that the ratio of Roma students in the region is two and a half times more than in the region. The territorial distribution is even more remarkable on the county level (see Figure 3):22 the presence of the Roma students in the primary schools is the highest Borsod (31%) and the lowest in Győr-Moson- . It must be noted, however, that the east-west and north-south oriented deviations are not completely followed by the county ratios: Csongrád in this respect is similar to the western part of the country, while Somogy and Baranya are closer to the northern regions.

18 Kemény – Janky – Lengyel, op.cit. 30. 19 “It is more prudent to say that the number of people living in gypsy households was between 520 thousand and 650 thousand in the beginning of 2003. (…) Currently, 19-20 thousand of the 570-600 thousand people living in gypsy households can be non gypsies”. Kemény – Janky – Lengyel, op.cit. 12. 20 Kemény – Janky – Lengyel, op.cit. 18. 21 The variance of the ratio of the Roma students in 16 percent are explained by the regional distributions (eta-square: 0.16; p=0.000). 22 Eta-square: 0.20, p:0.000.

37 30,0 27,8

25,0

20,0 18,67 15,95 % 15,0 13,01 8,1 8,09 10,0 7,48 6,69 6,61 5,0

0,0

Figure 2: Estimated ratio of Roma students in the regions

35,0 31,31

30,0 26,77 25,97 25,0 20,03 20,0 18,4 16,28 14,89

% 14,3 13,01 15,0 12,44 11,26 9,2 8,48 8,09 8,1 7,59 10,0 7,19 6,38 5,42 4,82 5,0 4,01 0,0

Figure 3: Estimated ratio of the Roma students in the counties

On the basis of the data, the characteristics of the slope by the settlement types may be also identified, and we can see that the ratio of the Roma students in the schools is higher on the smaller settlements, and smaller on the bigger settlements.

38 (Figure 4) While one-fifth of the primary school students of the villages are Roma by origin, on the county seats and in Budapest the ratio of the Roma students was estimated to be only 7-8%. The higher Roma ratio on the small settlements is even more remarkable in a more detailed division: in the case of the settlements with less than 1,000 inhabitants, the ratio of the Roma students in the schools is 28% on average, and in the case of the towns with less than 10,000 inhabitants it is 17%. As regards the county seats, a significant difference can be also experienced: in comparison with the average 6.8% Roma student ratio characterising the settlement type, the ratio of the Romas within the primary school students was 21 in Salgótarján and 16 in Miskolc, while it has not even reached 3% in Békéscsaba and Veszprém. The ratio of the Roma students is significantly explained by the belonging to the region and the settlement type (except for Budapest), together representing 29%.23 The Roma student ratios are outstandingly high in all settlement types in the Northern Great Plain region (38% in villages and 23% in towns). In the Northern Great Plain region the Roma student ratio is also registered above the average except for the county seats, while in the case of the small settlements in the Southern Transdanubian region also a high, 27%, ratio may be experienced. If the Roma proportions are projected to the number of students by settlement types then we shall see that almost half of the Roma students attend schools in villages, approximately 44% in towns and 8% in Budapest. (Figure 4) Comparing this data row with the distribution of the schools of all students by settlements then it shall be conspicuous again that in the educational issues of the Roma students the smaller settlements, in the rural schools, are exposed to bigger challenges than the institutions operated in the urban environments since the Roma students are concentrated in the schools of the villages in a bigger proportion. The reason for

23 By the two-way ANOVA a significant (p: 0.000) interaction effect, the eta-square calculated for the model: 0.288.

39 this may be partly traced back to the settlement structure, nevertheless it is likely also partly due to the enrolment of the non Roma students to the institutions of nearby towns.

25,0

20,64 20,0

15,0 % 11,65

10,0 8,09 6,87

5,0

0,0 Village Town County-seat Budapest

Figure 4: Estimated ratio of the Roma students by settlements types

40,0

35,0

30,0

25,0 West Transdanubia % 20,0 South Transdanubia 15,0 North Hungary

10,0 North Great Plain South Great Plain 5,0

0,0 Villages Towns County-seats

Figure 5: Roma student ratio by regions and settlement types

40 60,0

50,0 47,8

38,7 40,0 34,5

% 30,0 27,6 Roma students Every student 19,3 20,0 14,4 9,9 10,0 7,8

0,0 Village Town County-seat Budapest

Figure 6: Distribution of the estimated ratio of all students and the Roma students by settlement types

Looking at the ratio of the Roma students also on the microregional level, it may be established that in 45% of the microregions the ratio of Romas exceeds the average (13%) and in 55% are below the average. In 26 microregions the ratio of the students of Roma origin exceeds 30%, of which in 11 microregions it exceeds 40%, and in three (microregions of Szikszó, Edelény, and Bodrogköz) it exceeds even fifty percent.24 The questionnaire for the settlements included the question of where the school (place) is located within the areas of the settlements: in the central part of the settlement, on the edge of the settlement, or in the outskirts. It has an obvious significance within the settlements: the schools in the central part normally have a higher prestige, also have a bigger student basis, whereas the schools located in the peripheral part of the settlement have a lower prestige. It is also obvious that the prestige associated with the spatial location of the schools within a settlement is

24 For the estimated ratio of the Roma students for all microregions see the Annex.

41 developed differently in the case of the smaller and bigger settlements, since the structures of the local school market/world structure are different. It we examine the Roma ratio of the school from this aspect also, then we may also get a picture about the mechanisms referring to the settlement level segregation. In the case of the villages we cannot really speak about spatial segregation within the settlement since wherever the school is located the ratio of the Roma students are always high (exceeding 20 percent).

60,0

48 50,0 45

40,0 29 % 30,0 26

20,0 15 8 10,0 3 0,0

Figure 7: Number of microregions in the function of the estimated Roma origin ratios

Obvious signs referring to settlement level segregation can be experienced in the cases of the towns and county seats. (See Figure 8) In the case of the schools located in the outskirts of the towns which are not county seats the ratio of Romas is 10 percent more, while this difference is 5 percent in the case of the county seats. In the case of this latter settlement type, respecting the Roma proportion among the students, a difference of 2.3 percent on average can be observed between the schools operated on the periphery of the settlement and in the centre.

42 If we look at these in the function of how many schools with similar conditions are on the given settlement (see Figure 9) then it may be established that on the smaller settlements (villages and towns which are not county seats) where the local educational offer is narrower (there is only one school with similar conditions) there the ratio of the Roma students is above the average. On the county seats and in Budapest the ratio of Roma students is higher where there are at least two schools with similar conditions. It may be interpreted in a way that the peculiarities of the local educational market also influence the student composition: if the local rivalling for the students involves only two institutions then there shall be inevitably a higher Roma ratio in one of them. In the bigger urban environment, nevertheless, this rivalry takes places between at least three institutions with similar conditions and it is guaranteed to find a higher Roma ratio in one of these (more exactly: in the city environment, if there are only two schools with similar conditions in the vicinity then both of them are able to reach a Roma ratio below the average).

25,0

20,0

in the centre of the 15,0 settlement % on the periphery of the settlement 10,0 in the outskirts of the settlement 5,0

0,0 Villa ge Town County-sea t Buda pest

Figure 8: Ratio of Roma students in the function of the location of the institution within the settlement – by settlement types

43 For the settlement level segregation on the smaller settlements two institutions are enough, while on the bigger urban settlements it is the result of the interaction of at least 3 institutions.

30,0 26,30 25,0 21,82 20,0 20,70 17,65 % 15,0 13,65 11,36 Villa ge 10,18 11,97 10,0 9,68 Town 8,10 4,89 5,24 County-seat 5,0 7,99 6,87 5,04 3,99 Budapest 0,0 There are two There is one There are no Average schools school providing school providing providing similar similar training similar training training in the in the in the surroundings surroundings surroundings

Figure 9: Ratio of Roma students in the function of the number of schools in the vicinity – by settlement types

Some characteristics of the schools in the function of the ratio of Roma students

After the settlement level and regional characteristics of the estimated ratio of the Roma students it is worth to look at some characteristics which are more closely related to the world of schools. First of all, the question is how the average ratio of 13 percent calculated for the national level appears on the level of the schools/locations. According to the heads of the institutions, in one-fifth of the locations active in primary school education there was not one Roma student in 2009, and in another almost 40 percent of the schools the ratio of Roma students was maximum 10 percent. Half of the Hungarian primary school students attend a school where maximum 7 percent of the fellow students are Roma by origin (in a

44 class with 30 students there are maximum two Roma children) – if there is one Roma child in the class at all. Almost half of the other half of the students attends a school where the ratio of Roma children can be above the average (13 percent). (See Figure 10) On almost 15 percent of the locations the ratio of Roma students is above 40 percent, and in approximately 10 percent the ratio of Roma students is either 50 percent or even more. It may be also established that on 263 locations the ratio of Roma students is above 50 percent, of which in 52 this value is at least 90 percent while in 34 primary schools the ratio of the Roma students is minimum 95 percent – even according to the heads of the institutions.

Table 1: The number and percentage distribution of the locations by the ratio of Roma students Ratio of Roma Number of Valid answers Cumulated students in Locations (%) locations (%) percentage percent 540 19.8 20.9 20.9 0 1 014 37.3 39.3 60.2 1-10 314 11.5 12.2 72.3 11-20 197 7.2 7.6 79.9 21-30 162 6.0 6.3 86.2 31-40 93 3.4 3.6 89.8 41-50 75 2.8 2.9 92.7 51-60 67 2.5 2.6 95.3 61-70 49 1.8 1.9 97.2 71-80 29 1.1 1.1 98.3 81-90 43 1.6 1.7 100.0 91-100 138 5.1 no answer TOTAL 2 721 100.0 100.0

45

Figure 10: The ratio of Roma students in the primary school system in the function of the students

In the Hungarian literature the authors differentiate between ghetto schools and ghettoising schools (and regions). In the former, the ratio of the Roma students exceeds 50 percent, while the latter refers to a Roma ratio of 30-50 percent.25 According to the estimations of a research conducted in the spring of 2004, at that time the ratio of the Roma students was above 50 percent in at least 178 schools in the country, and was above 40 percent in another 67 schools.26 In the light of the data on the schools from 2009, these numbers are either underestimations or sign that in a few years – actually the period of extending the national educational integration projects27 – the appearance of the ghetto or ghettoising schools intensively continued. Namely, in 2009 the heads of the institutions of 263 locations of 245 primary schools indicated that the ratio of the Roma students is at least 50 percent in their school units, and in another 91 primary schools (on 93 locations) said that it exceeded 40 percent. Looking at the data changes in time it is

25 Havas, 2008. 124. 26 Havas – Liskó, 2005. 12. 27 The National Educational Integration Network (NEIW) experienced problems when introduced, among other things that it is used also in institutions where the ratio of Roma students is much higher than 50 percent (which also raises questions like “who is integrated where?”), we have already indicated it in 2006. Németh – Papp, 2006.

46 more likely for the schools with Roma majority that the appearance of ghetto schools and ghettoising are unobstructedly completing processes: between 2000 and 2009 the number of schools with a Roma ratio above fifty percent doubled. (See Figure 11)

300

263 250

200 178 150 Roma ratio above 50% 126 Roma ratio 40-50% 100 91 67 50

0 2000 2004 2009

Figure 11: The number of the so-called ghetto schools and ghettoising schools between 2000-2009 Source: 2000, 2004: Havas – Liskó, 2005; 2009: own calculations based on the school data of competency assessment in the academic year 2008/2009.

The data, however, also show large statistically significant regional differences.28 While for instance in Budapest,29 in Central Hungary, in Transdanubia and in the Southern Great Plain we find altogether 14 locations with primary schools with Roma student ratio exceeding 80 percent, then in there are 42 and in the Northern Great Plain there are 16 institutions with this indicator. Looking at the schools with Romafication in terms of percentage,

28 Chi-square: 651.7; df: 70, p:0.000. If we presume that there is a symmetric relationship between the Roma ratio and the regions, that is, they are processes intensifying one another, and if we regard the Roma ratio in the schools as a nominal variable (which we may since the Roma ratio marks schools of different types), then the strength of the relationship is 0.50 (phi value). If the Roma ratio in the schools is regarded as a consequence of the regional conditions then the value of association is 0.46 (eta value). 29 Here, of course, we consider the “self-declaration” of the schools. In the beginning of our paper we indicated that the extent of the lack of self-declaration is significantly higher among the schools in Budapest.

47 we may say that approximately 86 percent of the schools with more than 90 percent Roma students can be found in the two northern regions. At the same time, the ratio of schools with maximum 10 percent Roma students in Budapest, and in the Central and Transdanubian regions is approximately 90, while only one-third of the schools (locations) can say that in Northern Hungary. (See the detailed percentage data in the Appendix.) All these can be briefly evaluated so that as a consequence of the regional and settlement level fragmentation and the selective mechanisms of the school system an excessive portion of the Hungarian primary school students have a small chance to get acquainted with the Roma minority of their own age in the school, and vice versa some of the Roma students has only a small chance to enter into relationships with the majority nationality.30The regional characteristics call attention also to the fact that in the two northern regions, and in Southern Transdanubia, the ratio and distribution of the Roma students in the schools show a significantly diverging picture.

30 In the literature this phenomenon is measured with dissimilation, segregation (isolation) or exposure rate indexes as well. In relation to the USA a good overview is provided in the work by Clotfelter (Clotfelter, 2004). For the Hungarian references see Kertesi – Kézdi, 2009.

48 Table 2: The number of locations with primary school training by the ratio of the Roma students and by regions

Ratio of Central West South North South Roma Central North Budapest Trans- Trans- Trans- Great Great Total students Hungary Hungary danubia danubia danubia Plain Plain in percent 0 65 58 97 83 24 42 79 92 540 1-10 148 138 151 131 95 81 106 164 1014 11-20 27 30 34 34 45 49 54 41 314 21-30 9 15 8 17 34 40 52 22 197 31-40 9 11 9 7 31 40 47 8 162 41-50 6 3 6 6 11 41 18 2 93 51-60 3 1 1 1 11 29 26 3 75 61-70 3 2 2 1 9 18 29 3 67 71-80 1 2 1 7 25 9 4 49 81-90 2 1 1 3 18 3 1 29 91-100 3 1 2 24 13 43 TOTAL 276 261 310 281 272 407 436 340 2583

49 Summary

In our paper we made an attempt to give a picture about some aspects and processes of the Hungarian public education based on the database of the competency assessments for 8 grades conducted in 2009 in the function of the estimated school/location ratio of the Roma students. In the first part of the paper the regional and spatial aspects were surveyed in the function of the ratio of Roma students, in the second part some characteristics of the schools were monitored closely, and in the third part an attempt was made to place the competency results aggregated to the school level into explanatory models. On the basis of the processing of the questionnaires for location in the competency assessment of 2009, the ratio of Roma students is estimated to be 13 percent in the Hungarian primary schools. The further picture (like for example the concentration of the Romas in the small schools of the villages, the ramification of certain regions, the early selection between the schools the infrastructural problems of the schools with Roma majority, etc.) may not reveal radically new results for those who are interested in the topic. Nevertheless, if we regard the competency assessments as a full scale sociological survey where there is information on the ratio of the Roma students for the locational level, then the statements based on it shall become much more reliable than the state images unfolding from the targeted (targeting the Roma population or the Roma schools) researches from the former decades. Furthermore, since these surveys are complete, every single element of the schools can be placed into a comparative context, or even to compare with the “Roma-free” schools. It must be noted that if we take into consideration only the number of schools with high (above 50 percent) Roma students, and compare it with the data of other surveys then in the past one decade in spite of all efforts for integration in

50 educational policy the number of ghettoising schools has doubled. The school cannot control the regional and demographic effects, and in a sense it is one of the most sensitive institutions: the problems evolving independent of it are concentrated here, while they are expected to solve them (see the type “the school as a breaking-out point”).

RFERENCES

Balázsi, I. – Balkányi, P. – Felvégi, E. – Szabó, V. (2007): PIRSL 2006. Összefoglaló jelentés a 10 éves tanulók szövegértési képességeiről. Oktatási Hivatal, Budapest. Balázsi, I. – Ostorics, L. – Szalay, B. – Szepesi, I. (2010): PISA 2009. Szövegértés 10 év távlatában. Oktatási Hivatal, Budapest. Bourdieu, P. é.n.: Az osztályok pályája és a valószínűségi okság. In. Uő. A társadalmi egyenlőtlenségek újratermelődése. General Press. Clotfelter, C. T. (2004): After Brown. The Rise and Retreat of School Desegregation. Princeton University Press, Princeton-Oxford. Havas, G. – Liskó, I. (2005): Szegregáció a roma tanulók általános iskolai oktatásában. Felsőoktatási Kutatóintézet, Budapest. Havas, G. (2008): Esélyegyenlőség, deszegregáció. In. Fazekas Károly – Köllő János – Varga Júlia (szerk.) 2008 Zöld könyv a magyar közoktatás megújításért. 2008. Ecostat, Budapest, pp. 121- 138. Hermann, Z. – Molnár, T. L. (2010): Országos Kompetenciamérési adatbázis. Letölthető: http://adatbank.mtakti.hu/files/dokum/7.pdf Horn, D. – Sinka, E. (2006): A közoktatás minősége és eredményessége. In. Halász Gábor – Lannert Judit (szerk.): Jelentés a magyar közoktatásról. OKI, Budapest, pp.341-375. Kemény, I. – Janky, B. – Lengyel, G. (2004): A magyarországi cigányság 1971- 2003. Gondolat – MTA ENKI, Budapest. Kertesi, G. – Kézdi, G. (2008): A roma és nem roma fiatalok középiskolai továbbtanulása. Első eredmények a TÁRKI-Educatio Életpálya-felmérése alapján. In. Kolosi Tamás – Tóth István György (szerk.): Társadalmi Riport 2008. Tárki, Budapest, pp. 344–362. Kertesi, G. – Kézdi, G. (2009): Általános iskolai szegregáció Magyarországon az ezredforduló után. Közgadasági Szemle 2009/november pp. 959-1000.

51 Kertesi, G. – Kézdi, G. (2010): Iskolázatlan szülők gyermekei és roma fiatalok a középiskolában. Beszámoló az Educatio Életpálya-felmérésének 2006 és 2009 közötti hullámaiból. In. Kolosi Tamás – Tóth István György (szerk.) Társadalmi Riport 2010. Tárki, Budapest, pp. 371-407. Kertesi, G. (2008): A közoktatási intézmények teljesítményének mérése- értékelése. In. Fazekas Károly – Köllő János – Varga Júlia (szerk.) 2008: Zöld könyv a magyar közoktatás megújításért. 2008. Ecostat, Budapest. pp. 167- 189. Lannert, J. – Nagy, M. (szerk.) (2006): Eredményes iskola. Adatok és esetek. OKI, Budapest. MTA KTI (2008): A válaszmegtagadás elemzése az OKM 2007. évi felmérésében. MTA KTI „A közoktatás teljesítményének mérése–értékelése” programjának KOSTB 104. számú produktuma. Letölthető: www.mtakti.hu Németh, Sz. – Papp, Z. A. (2006): „És mi adjuk az integráció vezérfonalát”. In: Németh Szilvia (szerk.): Integráció a gyakorlatban. A roma tanulók együttnevelésének iskolai modelljei. OKI, Budapest, pp. 9-30. Oktatás-statisztikai évkönyv 2008/2009. Budapest, 2009. Teddlie, C. – Reynolds, D. (eds.) (2000): The International Handbook of School Effectiveness. Falmer Press, New York, London.

52

APPENDIX

A1. The ratio of Roma students by microregions The ratio of Roma Std. Microregion students in the Deviation primary schools Szikszói 52.07 15.577 Edelényi 51.93 34.383 Bodrogközi 51.63 12.406 Abaúj–Hegyközi 47.49 25.213 Ózdi 47.45 31.735 Encsi 46.93 31.399 Mezőcsáti 46.10 26.915 Szécsényi 44.80 24.508 Pétervásárai 42.57 11.321 Hevesi 41.93 36.416 Csengeri 40.99 10.197 Sellyei 40.00 20.496 Sásdi 39.73 14.043 Nyírbátori 38.02 22.016 Vásárosnaményi 37.65 22.240 Zalakarosi 36.46 21.328 Záhonyi 34.49 25.551 Kadarkúti 34.06 17.312 Fehérgyarmati 33.93 25.215 Mátészalkai 33.59 24.264 Bátonyterenyei 33.49 22.972 Szerencsi 33.19 26.320 Barcsi 32.61 22.125 Füzesabonyi 31.45 14.980 Sátoraljaújhelyi 30.95 13.041 Salgótarjáni 30.81 22.449 Ibrány–Nagyhalászi 29.81 15.770 Nagyatádi 29.10 25.307 Sárospataki 28.94 14.989 Szentgotthárdi 27.73 7.823 Balmazújvárosi 27.40 13.610

53 Baktalórántházai 26.74 19.801 Csurgói 26.31 21.352 Pásztói 26.13 23.413 Pacsai 26.04 16.941 Polgári 25.74 15.119 Tiszavasvári 25.30 25.970 Bélapátfalvai 25.12 11.580 Berettyóújfalui 25.10 20.500 Szentlőrinci 24.66 18.297 Tamási 24.25 15.591 Karcagi 24.24 27.232 Kazincbarcikai 24.13 22.961 Derecske–Létavértesi 24.02 21.456 Jászberényi 23.78 25.979 Kisvárdai 23.41 20.487 Lengyeltóti 22.46 9.995 Miskolci 22.18 21.664 Szigetvári 21.50 15.055 Jánoshalmai 21.15 7.661 Marcali 20.36 18.677 Tiszaújvárosi 20.06 28.585 Letenyei 19.35 10.907 Sarkadi 19.06 22.468 Balassagyarmati 19.05 13.364 Püspökladányi 18.95 16.457 Mezőkövesdi 18.11 21.233 Törökszentmiklósi 17.91 29.495 Tiszafüredi 17.61 12.803 Siklósi 17.26 23.829 Mohácsi 17.22 19.278 Aszódi 16.89 16.517 Gyöngyösi 15.75 22.593 Kaposvári 15.69 14.658 Tokaji 15.53 8.476 Hajdúhadházi 15.47 17.399 Tabi 15.31 10.586 Szarvasi 15.06 11.703

54 Dabasi 14.95 17.490 Ercsi 14.40 14.564 Szekszárdi 14.06 19.144 Kunszentmártoni 14.06 13.633 Ajkai 13.90 16.034 Békési 13.86 22.999 Nagykállói 13.82 17.433 Lenti 13.46 9.535 Sümegi 13.06 4.286 Nyíregyházai 13.03 13.681 Oroszlányi 13.03 8.267 Nagykátai 12.90 8.890 Bácsalmási 12.73 9.030 Kisbéri 12.58 14.404 Abai 12.35 27.342 Komlói 12.25 7.416 Szeghalomi 12.17 7.066 Rétsági 11.81 11.332 Pápai 11.38 13.501 Ceglédi 11.28 12.409 Dombóvári 11.27 18.927 Kalocsai 11.27 9.879 Paksi 11.01 10.391 Veresegyházi 10.57 12.212 Kiskunmajsai 10.54 6.284 Tatabányai 10.47 15.264 Sárbogárdi 10.34 4.557 Mezőkovácsházai 10.15 8.927 Szobi 10.01 11.600 Bonyhádi 9.99 7.163 Téti 9.98 11.416 Csongrádi 9.97 4.707 Egri 9.78 17.163 Nagykanizsai 9.71 16.069 Zalaszentgróti 9.69 13.683 Siófoki 9.59 7.024 Kunszentmiklósi 9.43 11.103

55 Bicskei 9.12 12.273 Gyáli 9.10 8.736 Makói 9.08 12.128 Kiskunhalasi 9.05 8.769 Mezőtúri 8.86 8.821 Pécsi 8.73 12.413 Szolnoki 8.68 13.820 Monori 8.67 10.485 Kiskőrösi 8.61 4.296 Enyingi 8.59 9.689 Gyulai 8.57 14.657 Vasvári 8.47 13.609 Hatvani 8.31 9.345 Pannonhalmai 8.10 4.778 Budapesti 8.09 14.698 Váci 8.03 8.917 Hódmezővásárhelyi 8.00 7.038 Csornai 7.90 6.803 Várpalotai 7.60 16.629 Zalaegerszegi 7.38 9.461 Pécsváradi 7.35 6.759 Gödöllői 7.10 11.613 Esztergomi 7.03 10.379 Kecskeméti 6.96 11.161 Celldömölki 6.83 8.318 Keszthelyi 6.76 6.953 Kapuvár–Beledi 6.51 4.499 Tatai 6.51 5.479 Kisteleki 6.41 10.022 Sárvári 6.40 5.337 Szentesi 6.37 4.906 Bajai 6.33 7.347 Ráckevei 5.78 5.619 Fonyódi 5.76 7.932 Körmendi 5.72 3.958 Kiskunfélegyházai 5.65 10.564 Hajdúböszörményi 5.62 5.137

56 Csepregi 5.54 3.965 Érdi 5.14 5.878 Budaörsi 5.11 8.932 Szentendrei 5.00 10.879 Balatonföldvári 4.93 3.700 Kőszegi 4.75 3.444 Tapolcai 4.37 3.238 Dorogi 4.26 5.543 Szombathelyi 4.23 6.683 Balatonalmádi 4.11 8.185 Hévízi 4.05 3.646 Székesfehérvári 3.95 4.355 Dunaújvárosi 3.65 6.802 Pilisvörösvári 3.64 11.129 Orosházai 3.59 3.297 Debreceni 3.52 10.109 Dunakeszi 3.28 2.900 Veszprémi 3.23 7.999 Zirci 3.05 4.528 Győri 3.03 6.002 Sopron–Fertődi 2.85 6.426 Békéscsabai 2.71 4.581 Mosonmagyaróvári 2.62 3.513 Szegedi 2.61 3.012 Hajdúszoboszlói 2.33 3.945 Móri 2.32 1.990 Komáromi 2.08 2.814 Őriszentpéteri 2.00 0.000 Balatonfüredi 0.99 0.528 Adonyi 0.88 1.234 Gárdonyi 0.43 0.496 Mórahalomi 0.37 0.483 AVERAGE 13.01 18.350

57

A2. The regional distribution of primary schools by the estimated number of Roma students (N=2583)

Central West South North South Central North percent Budapest Trans- Trans- Trans- Great Great TOTAL Hungary Hungary danubia danubia danubia Plain Plain 0 23,6 22,2 31,3 29,5 8,8 10,3 18,1 27,1 20,9 1-10 53,6 52,9 48,7 46,6 34,9 19,9 24,3 48,2 39,3 11-20 9,8 11,5 11,0 12,1 16,5 12,0 12,4 12,1 12,2 21-30 3,3 5,7 2,6 6,0 12,5 9,8 11,9 6,5 7,6 31-40 3,3 4,2 2,9 2,5 11,4 9,8 10,8 2,4 6,3 41-50 2,2 1,1 1,9 2,1 4,0 10,1 4,1 0,6 3,6 51-60 1,1 0,4 0,3 0,4 4,0 7,1 6,0 0,9 2,9 61-70 1,1 0,8 0,6 0,4 3,3 4,4 6,7 0,9 2,6 71-80 0,4 0,8 0,3 2,6 6,1 2,1 1,2 1,9 81-90 0,7 0,4 0,4 1,1 4,4 0,7 0,3 1,1 91-100 1,1 0,3 0,7 5,9 3,0 1,7 TOTAL 100,0 100,0 100,0 100,0 100,0 100,0 100,0 100,0 100,0

58 A3. The estimated ratio of Roma students in the primary schools by regions (N=2583)

Central West South North South Central North percent Budapest Trans- Trans- Trans- Great Great TOTAL Hungary Hungary danubia danubia danubia Plain Plain 0 12,0 10,7 18,0 15,4 4,4 7,8 14,6 17,0 100 1-10 14,6 13,6 14,9 12,9 9,4 8,0 10,5 16,2 100 11-20 8,6 9,6 10,8 10,8 14,3 15,6 17,2 13,1 100 21-30 4,6 7,6 4,1 8,6 17,3 20,3 26,4 11,2 100 31-40 5,6 6,8 5,6 4,3 19,1 24,7 29,0 4,9 100 41-50 6,5 3,2 6,5 6,5 11,8 44,1 19,4 2,2 100 51-60 4,0 1,3 1,3 1,3 14,7 38,7 34,7 4,0 100 61-70 4,5 3,0 3,0 1,5 13,4 26,9 43,3 4,5 100 71-80 2,0 4,1 2,0 14,3 51,0 18,4 8,2 100 81-90 6,9 3,4 3,4 10,3 62,1 10,3 3,4 100 91-100 7,0 2,3 4,7 55,8 30,2 100 TOTAL 10,7 10,1 12,0 10,9 10,5 15,8 16,9 13,2 100

59 István Zoltán Pásztor31 – János Pénzes32

SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION AND DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS OF THE ROMA POPULATION IN NORTHEASTERN HUNGARY

Introduction

The unresolved situation of the Roma population is one of the most topical problems in Hungary (or even in East Central Europe as a whole), and within it especially in Northeastern Hungary. In the past decades numerous attempts were made to remedy the situation but they did not produce clear results. The problem, however, may even intensify, since the number of the Roma population increased sevenfold between 1941 and 2001, and their demographic indicators suggest that their number will continue to increase in the future. Besides, the typical spatial distribution of the Roma population and the accumulation of the related problems show a definitely plotted spatial peripherization. It is quite difficult to measure the number of the Roma population. Consequently, the regional analyses focusing on the topic can be considered relatively infrequent. The present study aims at demonstrating the processes of a more extensive area; therefore, it contains unavoidable simplifications and methodological solutions. For instance, a separate analysis of the Roma people (Romungro, Beas, Romani) is not included, and the basis of the investigation is not provided by the sociological type field data collection which has a totally different methodology. The purpose of the study is to illustrate the spatial distribution of the Roma population in Northeastern Hungary with its changes, and to reveal the most

31 PhD-student, University of Debrecen, Department of Social Geography and Regional Development Planning; e-mail: [email protected] 32 Phd, assistant professor, University of Debrecen, Department of Social Geography and Regional Development Planning; e-mail: [email protected]

60 characteristic demographic and income processes of the settlement groups concerned, with special emphasis on the phenomenon of spatial peripherization.

Problems in the evaluating of the number of Roma population

Regarding the number of the Roma population – similarly to the ethnic surveys in general – no exact, reliable and detailed data are available. The reason for this is that the census data aggregated at the settlement level are recorded on a self- certification basis, and the ratio of the population declaring itself Roma constitutes only a third or quarter of the real value. Therefore, however, the census data should be subject to reservations when studying the Roma population. Nevertheless, these data also provide a good opportunity to approach the spatial distribution of the Roma population. The sociological estimates are based on sampling and may be regarded more exact with regard to the data concerning the total number of the population – but their availability in spatial terms is only limited. During the surveys usually those are taken as Romas who are considered as such by their environment. (Kemény, I. - Janky, B. 2003) The same applies for the panel survey carried out by the statistical office. Besides these approaches, that group of people can also be regarded as Gypsy who speaks Romani language or maintains a relevant ethnic identity. (Hablicsek, L. 2008) In the current investigation the number of Roma population was collected from the representatives of local governments (mayors and notaries) and from local Gypsy minorities of the settlements in Northeastern Hungary by phone and personally. This method tried to mix the two kinds of approaches and additional corrections were carried out in order to make an exact overview concerning the number of the Roma population. The database contained 999 settlements in two

61 NUTS2 regions of Hungary – Northern Hungary (Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Heves and Nógrád counties) and the Northern Great Plain regions (Hajdú-Bihar, Jász- Nagykun-Szolnok and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg counties). This database from the years of 2010 and 2011 (hereinafter referred to as 2010) was appropriate to make a comparison with the CIKOBI (Committees for the Coordination of Gypsy Affairs) database from the late 1980s (collected by questioning the local councils of settlements). (Kertesi, G. - Kézdi, G. 1998)

Growth of the number of Roma population in Hungary

Despite the different approaches in surveying and the resulted numbers, tendencies clearly demonstrate a significant growth of the Roma population in Hungary (Figure 1). The ratio of the Roma population has increased from 1.1 percent to more than 5.6 percent between the first census of Gypsies in 1893 and the last national sociological survey in 2003. The size of the Roma minority has increased by sevenfold between 1941 and 2001 by the data of national census. However, the given estimations were carried out in different periods, and some of the demographic experts proved an approximately cubic exponential trend in the growth of the Roma population. (Hablicsek, L. 2008) The most important source of this rapid increase is the high natural increase but international migration and the increasing rate of declaring the identity play an important role as well. On the basis of the available resources, experimental projections were calculated for the number and ratio of the Roma population until 2050. By this time, approximately one-fourth of the total population – that will presumably fall to 8 million on the national level – will be regarded as Romas. These projections are expected for not only the trend represented by the previous estimations and censuses but also for the slowly declining growth rate of the Roma

62 population (that can be seen in the latest surveys) and the decreasing trend in mortality among the Gypsies. (Hablicsek, L. 2000) A slight decrease could be detected in the number live births per 1000 women regarding the results of the sociological surveys carried out in 1993 and 2003. The age at the first birth has started to be postponed as well. (Kemény, I. 2004) The Roma communities represent significant differences that make the question of reproduction more complex. The fertility might depend upon the education, the employment and the traditions that are modified by the social networks and connections. (Durst, J. 2007) Some case studies confirmed the greater effect of social segregation (lack of access to different ways of lifestyle) on the demographic (fertility) characteristics in spite of the residential segregation. (Durst, J. 2006) There are considerable disparities amongst the different Roma ethnic groups as well. (Janky, B. 2007)

800000

700000

600000 anel Sociological Sociological survey Demogrpahic Demogrpahic p

500000 Sociological survey

400000 survey CIKOBI 1893estimation

Sociological survey 1941national census 300000

200000 Census Census

100000 Census Gypsy census Census Census 0 1893 1941 1949 1960 1971 1987 1990 1993 2001 2003 2004 years Figure 1: Estimated number of the Roma population in Hungary between 1893 and 2004. (Source: edited by the authors, data from censuses and from other sources) (Cserti Csapó, T. without year; Hablicsek, L. 2008; Kocsis, K. - Kovács, Z. 1999)

63 The age structure of the Roma population significantly differs from the aggregated national values as a result of the characteristic natural increase. 37 percent of the Roma population is under 15, while the percentage is only 16 regarding the whole population. At the same time, the ratio of the population above 60 is only 4 percent among the Roma population and 21 percent in the case of the total population of Hungary. (Kemény, I. 2004) This phenomenon is not only the result of the higher fertility rate of the Roma population, but it is also an evidence for the worse life expectancy at birth. The territorial pattern of the Roma population is rather uneven. The regional distribution will be detailed at the description of Northeastern Hungary.

Roma population of Northeastern Hungary

Southwestern and Northeastern Hungary are the traditional living areas of the Roma population. Most of the studies investigating the territorial features of the Roma minority remarked their dominant presence in these regions. Southern Transdanubia (Baranya, Somogy and Tolna counties), Northern Hungary (Borsod- Abaúj-Zemplén, Heves and Nógrád counties) and the Northern Great Plain (Hajdú-Bihar, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg counties) concentrated approximately two-thirds of the Hungarian Roma population. The two latter regions in Northeastern Hungary made up for half of the Gypsy inhabitants. At the time of the first Gypsy census (1893) the number of the Roma inhabitants was more than 31,000 representing 1.9 percent of the total population in Northeastern Hungary (Figure 2). This number increased dynamically and by the time of the sociological survey in 2003 it reached 278,000 (more than 9.8 percent of the total population).

64 450000

400000

350000 anel Demogrpahic Demogrpahic 300000 p Sociological Sociological survey 250000 Sociological survey Sociological

CIKOBI surveyCIKOBI 1993estimation 200000 Sociological survey 2001national census 150000 Census

100000 Census

50000 Gypsy census

0 1893 1941 1949 1960 1971 1987 1990 1993 2001 2003 2004 2010*

Figure 2: Estimated number of the Roma population in Northeastern Hungary between 1893 and 2010. (Source: edited by the authors, data from censuses; Cserti Csapó, T. without year; Hablicsek, L. 2008; Kocsis, K. - Kovács, Z. 1999 and own survey)

Figure 3: The change in the ratio of the Roma population between 1987 and 2010, in percentage. (Source: edited by the authors, data from CIKOBI and from own survey)

65 According to our own investigation, when the numbers of Roma population were collected from the representatives of local governments (mayors and notaries) and from local Gypsy minorities, the growth was more intensive. Probably, in the light of the former estimations (when the national census data were based on a different approach), this number might be exaggerated but this methodology is appropriate as well. In our opinion, the collected data for 2010 provide a substantive overview of the distribution of the Roma inhabitants on the studied area. The methodology of the CIKOBI survey – carried out between 1984 and 1987, and published in 1992 (this is the reason why we can find different years in the literature for this database), was similar to ours. Due to this similarity, the two databases were compared to each other in order to create a dynamic indicator.

Figure 4: The ratio of the Roma population in Northeastern Hungary in 2010, in percentage. (Source: edited by the authors, data from CIKOBI and from own survey)

66 The CIKOBI survey in 1987 indicated approximately 202,000 inhabitants in Northeastern Hungary. This number reached almost 416,000 by 2010. The growth of the Roma population was unequal and represented characteristic spatial disparities (Figure 3). Former studies pointed out that the increase of the Roma population was especially significant in the case of the peripheral areas (Figure 4) (Pásztor, I. Z. - Pénzes, J. 2012). The number of settlements with Roma majority increased from 15 to 63 during the investigated period (1987-2010). There were 183 settlements with more than 20 percent of Gypsy population in the late 1980s that grew by 389 in almost 25 years (Table 1). This ratio is the critical threshold value. Above that the number of conflicts multiplies, the outmigration of non- gypsies accelerates and the process of ‘romafication’ probably becomes irreversible. (Havas, G. 1999) The most problematic areas are the Cserehát, the Bodrogköz, the eastern part of Szatmár and the Nyírség, the surroundings of the Middle-Tisza, Ózd and Salgótarján.

Table 1: The number of settlements and the number of population in the settlement categories by the ratio of the Roma population in 1987 and 2010. (Source: edited by the authors, data from CIKOBI and from own survey)

Categories Number of Number of Number of Number of Change between (by the ratio of settlements population settlements population 1987 and 2010, % Roma Number of Number of in 1987 in 2010 population) settlements population

>50 15 10,197 63 61,181 +320 +500 40-50 22 19,355 48 75,588 +118 +291 30-40 43 53,300 124 239,527 +188 +349 20-30 103 179,376 154 350,078 +50 +95 10-20 225 461,964 223 887,038 -1 +92 <10 392 1,939,380 261 1,064,390 -33 -45 0 156 357,400 126 112,726 -19 -68 Northeastern 956 3,020,972 999 2,790,528 +4 -8 Hungary

67 There are additional characteristics of the territorial distribution of the Roma population. Roma inhabitants represented a large concentration in the small villages on the national level and in the investigated regions as well. However, the national data – according to the sociological survey – showed a greater dominance of villages (60.5 percent) in the geographical distribution of the Roma population in 1993 than was experienced during the current investigation. (Havas, G. 1999) The ratio was 38.0 percent in the case of the whole population. Approximately 50.3 of the Roma population lived in villages in Northeastern Hungary, while only 39.5 percent of the total population lived in this type of settlements. More than one-third of the Roma population concentrated in villages with less than 2,000 inhabitants (and less than 23 percent of the total population) before the political transition. These ratios decreased by 2010: 29.1 percent of the Roma and 21.8 percent of the whole population lived on this settlement type. This data represented one of the geographical factors of disadvantages, but the decreasing ratio of Roma inhabitants living in small villages indicated their expansion in the case of the larger settlements as well. The more dominant presence of the Gypsy population in small villages often accompanied the originally peripheral situation of the local economy and employment. The categories of settlements by the ratio of the Roma population clearly represent the process of an ethnic change. The number of settlements and the population concerned increased dynamically in the categories with a significant ratio of Roma population. In the meantime, the number of settlements without or with small number of Roma inhabitants decreased. This categorization provided a basis for the subsequent calculations that helps to illustrate the demographic and income process of the group of settlements. It is really important to emphasize that the territories with a significant ratio of Roma population constitute an almost complete overlapping with the backward

68 areas of Northeastern Hungary. The income situation of these areas became worse after the political transition and their catching up is not seen. The Roma population has faced cumulative problems of employment since the mid 1980s and this terrible labour market situation became even worse after the millennium (Pásztor, I. Z. - Pénzes, J. 2012). The demographic processes also indicate the cumulative territorial problem of the Gipsies.

Demographic processes by the ratio of Roma inhabitants in Northeastern Hungary

The demographic processes of the settlements with a significant ratio of Roma inhabitants differ from the regional trends and from those settlements without a large number of Roma community. These tendencies are represented by the natural increase/decrease (the difference between the number of live births and deaths), by the migration balance (the difference between the number of immigrants and out- migrants) and by the age structure. The natural increase or decrease per 1,000 inhabitants represents significant and growing disparities (Figure 5). The most spectacular extreme values appeared in the case of the settlements with more than 50 percent Roma population and those without Roma inhabitants. The regional tendency represented an almost continually declining natural decrease, while the trend of settlements with only non-Roma inhabitants showed a parallel but even lower curve. The other groups of settlements – except for those with at least 40 percent Roma population – moved together with the regional fluctuation. However, the exceptional categories represented an almost constant natural increase between 1990 and 2010. This tendency illustrates the specific demographic attitude of the Gypsy population. (But it is important to emphasize that the Roma communities cannot be regarded

69 homogeneous – there are differences between the Roma ethnic groups (Janky, B. 2007) or even between the neighboring communities (Durst, J. 2006)). The high fertility rate among the Roma women is in close connection with the traditions, the low education level and the extremely low employment level. The large family among the low-income groups is able to provide a kind of security in the terms of ‘care’ and it might serve as a base to pick up a living by state transfers. The lack of employment at the same time causes a vicious circle because the young generations growing up cannot see a model for the ‘normal’ life. This situation will reproduce and multiply the groups with cumulative disadvantages. Decades ago, a study pointed out lower fertility rate within the Roma families with an employed person in the household as opposed to those without an employee. (Hoóz, I. 1964)

6,0 5,0 > 50 4,0 3,0 40-50 2,0 1,0 30-40 0,0 -1,0 20-30 -2,0 10-20 -3,0 -4,0 < 10 -5,0 -6,0 0 -7,0 -8,0 Total -9,0

Figure 5: Natural increase or decrease per 1,000 inhabitants in the categories of settlements by the ratio of Roma inhabitants between 1990 and 2010, person. (Source: edited by the authors, data from TEIR-KSH)

70 6,0 4,0 > 50 2,0 40-50 0,0

-2,0 30-40 -4,0 -6,0 20-30 -8,0 10-20 -10,0 -12,0 < 10 -14,0 0 -16,0

-18,0 Total -20,0

Figure 6: Migration balance per 1,000 inhabitants in the categories of settlements by the ratio of Roma inhabitants between 1990 and 2010, person. (Source: edited by the authors, data from TEIR-KSH)

The migration balance per 1,000 inhabitants reflects a complex view; however given tendencies are recognizable (Figure 6). The regional trend was negative during the investigated period and this fact – with the natural decrease – makes the serious demographic crisis of the area clearly visible and the out-migration became more acute after the millennium. The migration balance showed a considerable fluctuation especially in the case of the groups of settlements with a significant ratio of Roma population. The settlements with Roma majority had migration gain in the first part of 1990s as a result of the in-migration of (mainly Roma) groups who lost their subsistence in the towns. (Baros, Z. et. al. 2007) These categories showed the largest negative decline after the millennium. The group of settlements without Roma minority was the most stable, but this category also turned to negative following the accession of Hungary to the European Union in 2004. The out-migration of the (mainly non-Gypsy) population resulted in a negative

71 migration balance in the case of the settlements with high Roma ratios – it is the process of the ethnic exchange. (Figure 7)

0,0 -1,0 -2,0 -3,0 -4,0

-5,0 1990-1999 -6,0 2000-2010 -7,0 -8,0 -9,0 -10,0

Figure 7: Migration balance per 1,000 inhabitants in the categories of settlements by the ratio of Roma inhabitants between 1990 and 2010, person. (Source: edited by the authors, data from CIKOBI and from own survey)

The age pyramids of the group of settlements also substantially illustrate the demographic characteristics. Although, the aggregated Roma personal data clearly reflects a typical young and developing society. (Hablicsek, L. 2008) The proportion of the youngest generations is significantly higher (almost twofold under the age 15) in the case of the settlements with more than 50 percent of Roma population than on the regional level or within the settlements without Gypsy inhabitants. The ratio of elderly age groups is lower in comparison with the other groups of settlements. However, generally the old non-Roma population stays on the settlements where the ethnic exchange is advanced. The ratio of the Roma children in the primary schools and kindergartens provides a good indicator for the ethnic exchange. Case studies proved the process of ethnic exchange and romafication, where the ratio of Roma children was higher

72 than the ratio of non-Roma pupils and significantly outnumbered the ratio of the total Roma population. (Pásztor, I. Z. 2010) In these cases, the rapid change of ratio was accelerated by the school- and settlement-change of the non-Gypsy pupils. As a result of this process, the romafication of a particular settlement becomes irreversible.

Conclusions

The objectives of the current investigation were to create a comprehensive overview about the spatial distribution, demographic processes of the Roma population in Northeastern Hungary with a Hungarian outlook. The analysis was based on an own data collection resulting a relatively high number for the Roma population concerning the investigated area, however it might be considered appropriate to illustrate the basic situation. The territories with a significant ratio of Roma population constitute an almost complete overlapping with the backward areas of Northeastern Hungary. The income situation of these areas became worse after the political transition and their catching up is not seen. The Roma population has faced cumulative problems of employment since the mid 1980s and this terrible labour market situation became even worse after the millennium. The number of the Roma population and the number of settlements with Roma majority increased rapidly during the last few decades. The categories of settlements created with regard to the ratio of Roma inhabitants reflected the general demographic trends of the Hungarian Roma community. Nevertheless, there are also considerable differences between the Roma ethnic groups and the neighbouring communities. Natural increase was dominant in the case of the settlements with a significant ratio of Roma inhabitants, while the other categories

73 were characterized by a massive natural decrease. The migration balance was basically negative among the settlements with a high ratio of Roma population indicating the process of ethnic change that leads to romafication as a result of the out-migration of the non-Gypsy population, the immigration of Roma families to the cheap houses and the natural increase of the Roma inhabitants. However, the fertility rate of the Hungarian Roma families is slightly decreasing, it is unequivocally multiple higher than the non-Gypsy rate. The age pyramid of settlements with a significant Roma population demonstrated a young society with lots of children. The poorness and cumulative disadvantages multiply itself creating an almost irreversible vicious cycle. This process caused the spatial concentration of settlements with Roma majority and cumulative social-economic problems. The symptoms of this territorial ghettofication can be easily detected in the income processes as the largest fall of the relative income appeared in the case of the settlements with the highest ratio of Roma inhabitants. The correlation between the ratio of Roma population and income poorness became significantly stronger during the last few decades. The gap between the group of relatively developed settlements with a low ratio of Roma inhabitants and the backward settlements (not only small villages) with a high ratio of Gypsy communities opened broadly after the political transition and this gap remained to be fixed, it has not closed yet. The formation of territorial ghettos with great extended romafication cannot be stopped without a comprehensive and integrated social-economic intervention (controlled and co-financed by the central government and by European Community resources).

74 References

Baros, Z. – Pénzes, J. – Tamás, T. (2007): Demográfiai folyamatok a Csereháton a XX. század folyamán. (Demographic processes in the Cserehát during the 20th century). In Migráció és asszimiláció Északkelet-Magyarországon és a Partiumban (1715-1992). Eds.: Demeter, G. – Bagdi, B., Debrecen. Kossuth Egyetemi Kiadó. 170-185. Cserti Csapó, T. (without year): Területi-szociológiai jellemzés a magyarországi cigány népesség körében. (Territorial-sociological description among the Hungarian Gypsy population) http://nti.btk.pte.hu/rom/dok/sal/Tibor_Cserti_Csapo_Territorial_sociology.doc (accessed 16 March 2012) Durst, J. (2006): Kirekesztettség és gyermekvállalás. A romák termékenységének változása néhány “gettósodó” aprófaluban (1970-2004). (Segregation and childbearing. The changes of Roma fertility in some “ghetto” small villages (1970-2004)). PhD thesis, Budapest. Corvinus University, 186. p. Durst, J. (2007): Több a kára, mint a haszna: születésszabályozás a “gettóban”. (The disadvantages outweigh the advantages: birth control in the ‘ghetto’), Demográfia, 50/1. pp. 74-103. Hablicsek, L. (2000): Kísérlet a roma népesség előreszámítására 2050-ig. (Experimental Roma population projection). In Cigánynak születni. Tanulmányok, dokumentumok (Born to be a Gypsy, Studies and documents). Ed. Horváth, Á., Budapest. Aktív Társadalom Alapítvány & Új Mandátum Kiadó. pp. 243-276. Hablicsek, L. (2008): The development and the spatial characteristics of the Roma population in Hungary. Experimental population projections till 2021. Demográfia 51/5. English Edition. pp. 85-123. Havas, G. (1999): A kistelepülések és a romák. In: A cigányok Magyarországon. Magyarország az ezredfordulón. Ed.: Glatz, F., Budapest. MTA. pp. 21-44. Hoóz, I. (1964): A cigányok születési jellegzetességei a sellyei járásban. (The birth characteristics of Gypsies in the district of Sellye). Demográfia, 7/2. pp. 230- 243. Janky, B. (2007): A korai gyermekvállalást meghatározó tényezők a cigány nők körében. (Factors determining the Roma women’s early childbearing). Demográfia, 50/1. pp. 55-73. Kemény, I. (2004): A magyarországi cigány népesség demográfiája. (Demography of the Roma population in Hungary). Demográfia, 47/3-4. pp. 335-346. Kemény, I. – Janky, B. (2003): A cigány nemzetiségi adatokról. (On Gypsy minority statistics). Kisebbségkutatás, 12/2. pp. 309-315.

75 Kertesi, G. – Kézdi, G. (1998): A cigány népesség Magyarországon, dokumentáció és adattár (Gypsy population in Hungary, documentation and database). Budapest. Socio-typo. pp. 341-352. Kocsis, K. – Kovács, Z. (1999): A cigány népesség társadalomföldrajza. (Social geography of the Gypsy population). In A cigányok Magyarországon. Magyarország az ezredfordulón, Ed.: Glatz, F. Budapest. MTA. pp. 17-20. Pásztor, I. Z. (2011): Location of the gypsies in the Northern Great Plain and North Hungary Regions. In: New results of cross-border Co-operation. Ed.: Kozma, G., Debrecen. Didakt. pp. 151-160. Pásztor, I. Z. – Pénzes, J. (2012): Foglalkoztatási krízis és jövedelmi periferizálódás Északkelet-Magyarországon a roma népességi arányok tükrében. (Employment crisis and income peripherization in Northeastern Hungary in the light of the ratio of Roma population) Under publishing

76 Kvetoslava Matlovičová33 – René Matlovič34 – Alexander Mušinka35 – Anna Židová36

THE ROMA POPULATION IN SLOVAKIA Basic Characteristics of the Roma Population with Emphasis on the Spatial Aspects of its Differentiation

Introduction

Obtaining reliable data about the number of the Roma was and is almost always associated with many problems. In Slovakia, in this respect, according to several experts (M, Marcinčinová 2009; Mann et al. 2006; Vaňo 2001) a certain terminological ambiguity has been considered as key in terms of the Roma perception especially in the recent years. The cause of this state in our country can be sought after 1989. It consisted in the belief (at a professional level now overcome) that any detection of race, language, social origin, etc. leads to discrimination. This consistent application of the basic constitutional right of the Slovak Republic citizens in the area of statistical inquiry led to the fact that after 1989 in our country there are virtually no relevant statistics on the ethnic composition of the population (Vaňo 2001). Although the help to the Roma comes from knowledge of this ethnic group size and is virtually a permanent part of government policies, paradoxically "the approach to the statistical collection of ethnic data has not yet been clarified..." (M, Marcinčinová 2009, 7-8). The absence of accurate data is in many different analyses replaced with various qualified estimates which amounts are significantly different. For example,

33 PhD, lecturer, University of Presov in Presov, Department of Geography and regional development, Ul. 17. novembra 1, 081 16 Presov, e-mail: kveta.matlovicova@)gmail.com 34 Prof. RNDr, PhD, rector, University of Presov in Presov, Department of Geography and regional development, Ul. 17. novembra 1, 081 16 Presov, e-mail: rene.matlovic@)unipo.sk 35 PhD, researcher, University of Presov in Presov, Institute of Romani studies. Ul. 17. novembra 1, 081 16 Presov, e-mail: [email protected] 36 PhD-student, University of Presov in Presov, Department of Geography and Regional Development; Ul. 17. novembra 1, 081 16 Prešov, e-mail: zidovaanna@)gmail.com

77 Liégeois (in Liégeois 1997, p. 33) gives the estimated number of the Roma in Slovakia in early 1990s at 480 000-520 000. This resource is often cited in literature, but in our opinion (as we will show later in the text) also very unrealistic. This is confirmed by Arne B. Mann (in Liégeois 1997, p. 14-15), in the introductory note to Slovak translation, as it caused considerable distortion identified by the lack of co-worker directly from Slovakia in his international team. Another, more realistic, estimate is offered by Vaňo (Vaňo 2001, p.13), according to him 360 000 to 365 000 Roma lived in Slovakia in 2000, with predicted increase in 2005 to 403 000.

Objectives and Methodology

In our work, we base on data obtained in a single complex conducted research in the context of this theme (spatially contained the entire territory of Slovakia) on implementing of which we were also involved. It is sociographic mapping of Roma communities in Slovakia, also known as the Atlas of Roma communities in Slovakia, which was conducted under the auspices of the Office of Slovak Government Plenipotentiary for Roma communities in 2004. In 2010, the process of update preparation of this Atlas has begun in which the pre-research was conducted (by telephone inquiry), for the purpose to update selected data, which aimed to reveal these municipalities that were not in the Atlas in 2004 for various reasons. They were these municipalities, which in 2004 were not considered because there lived only low-number Roma community (less than 50 Roma people). The objective of this project was not only to fill the information gaps in the area of the available hard data, but also to review the way of database creating of

78 the Roma settlements and to create standardized and sustainable form of data collection of the Roma in Slovakia. From the very beginning, the implementers of this research were faced with problems of methodological nature. According to the legal status lawful at present in Slovakia, a member of a particular nation or ethnic group is a person who it voluntarily and freely declares. This declaration is examined in the regular census, which was last time implemented in Slovakia in 2011. The Roma in Slovakia had the opportunity to declare their nationality for the first time after 1991. Although the number of people declaring themselves as the Roma has been rising steadily after 1991 (in 1991 it was 75 802, in 2001 – 89 902, and in 2011 – 105 738 (SO SR)), professional public is consistent that this number is still significantly undervalued. In this context, the research did not examine the number of people declaring themselves as the Roma, but occurrence, location and nature of communities that are perceived as the Roma by their neighbourhood (the majority). In this context, so-called attributed ethnicity was surveyed. The way of such data examination was carried out through information obtained primarily from the representatives of the territorial units (municipality or town). From a methodological point of view, it was a qualified estimate. This approach is not new by its character. It had been applied in the past, before 1991, in all surveys on the Roma. In this way, created database can be regarded as insufficient for its name "Atlas", which implicitly expects a certain form of cartographic interpretation of obtained data; however it completely absents in the database. Therefore, in our contribution we offer the essential characteristics of the spatial analysis of obtained data that is currently the only of its kind and offers a useful set of information about the spatial differentiation of the Roma ethnic, with a wide range of its subsequent use in planning practice.

79

Development of the Roma in Slovakia according to censuses, records of the civil service and other inquiries

Early Roma settlement of Slovak area is dating back to the 13th century. According to E. Horváthová (1964), the group of the Roma, who came with Andrew II., could arrive to southern Slovakia. The Roman studies refine the Roma movement from the Balkans to the Central Europe in the 12th and 13th century, which is associated with the pressure of the Ottoman Turks, who successively expanded their territory from the Byzantine Empire to the Balkans and later almost to the central Europe (Jurová 2002 in Matlovič 2005, p. 235). The first written document about the Roma population in Slovakia is a list from 1322, in which the presence of the Roma in Spiš region is mentioned by mayor-John Kunch from Spišská Nová Ves (Matlovič 2005, p. 235). Later, numerous Roma groups came to Slovakia. In 1423, in the Spiš castle, Sigismund of Luxembourg issued the charter which guaranteed certain safeguards and self-government jurisdictions for the Roma (Wolter 1964). Compared with other countries, more favourable conditions for the Roma application in the crafts were in Ugrian because guild organization was not so stable. This determined the progressive extension of the Roma population in 15th – 17th century in present-day Slovakia. Particularly attractive places for the Roma settlement were suburbs (huštáky) and the edges of villages, where they could develop their activities in crafts, trade and in various seasonal occasional works (Horvátová 1964, in Matlovič 2005, p. 235). Gradually, some Ugrian towns and historical administration units started to regulate the Roma immigration with an emphasis on economic factors. At the beginning of the 18th century, the Roma lived mainly in groups in Slovakia. They were lawfully subjected to their Roma mayors (vajda) and land administrator (župan) (Horvátová 1964, p. 109-111).

80 The Roma distribution in 1770s and 1780s can be partly reconstructed from inquiries, which were conducted by Maria Theresa and Joseph II. They resulted that the Roma preferred the southern regions, where climatic conditions were more favourable. The most Roma families lived in the Bratislava historical administration unit (in 1782 more than 500 - mainly on Great Rey Island- Žitný ostrov), the Nitra historical administration unit (in 1785 452 Roma families, mostly in its southern part), the Tekov historical administration unit (in 1774 246 Roma families, the most in Levice and its surrounding), the Gemer historical administration unit (in 1785 327, the most in Štítnik and Dobšiná), the Šaris historical administration unit (in 1775 277 families), the Trenčín historical administration unit (in 1785 116 families, again the most in its southern part), the Spiš historical administration unit (in 1775 197 Roma families, of which three quarters lived in the southern part). In the other historical administration units, Roma settlement was more modest – for instance the Zvolen historical administration unit (in 1769 53 families), the Turčianska historical administration unit (in 1782 15 families) (Horvátová 1964 in Matlovič 2005, p. 236-237). In the 19th century, nomadic Olachian Roma came to the territory of Slovakia. Their arrival was caused by changes in feudal legal restrictions in 1855 and 1856 in Wallachia and Moldavia. The Roma distribution can be reconstructed from inquiries from 1893. According to Horvátová’s estimates and calculations (1964 in Matlovič 2005, p. 237), based on whole Ugrian census of the Roma people in 1893, 36 231 Roma lived in Slovakia, of which 92.9% were settled, 5.4% were partially settled, and 1.7% were nomadic. The highest number of the Roma lived in these historical administration units: Gemer (5 552), Nitra (4 303), Bratislava (4 173) and Šaris (3 261). From 2 000 to 3 000 Roma lived in these historical administration units: Zemplín (3 081), Spiš (2 792), Abov (2 782) and Tekov (2 034). From 1 000 to 2 000 Roma lived in these historical administration units:

81 Novohrad, Trenčín, Komárno, Hontianska and Zvolen. Smaller numbers were recorded in Liptov, Turiec and Orava (Matlovič 2005, p. 237). The majority of the Roma lived in this period in the south-western, southern and eastern parts of Slovakia. The lowest number of the Roma lived in the north-western of Slovakia. According to these facts, a spatial mosaic about the Roma distribution was created, which has persisted with small changes to the present. The Roma distribution in the mid-20th century allows us to reconstruct the first post-war census of the Roma population from 1947. Its extant was affected by resettlement processes from Slovakia to the Czech border and to industrial areas of the northern part of the Czech Republic. It is estimated that in 1945, in consequence of the Holocaust of the Roma, less than 1 000 Roma lived in the Czech Republic and Moravia. In 1947 there were already 16 752. In 1947, 84 438 Roma lived in Slovakia, who were mostly concentrated in the southern and eastern part of Slovakia. Spatial differentiation can be followed by the territorial districts of search stations of the National Security Corps. The highest number of the Roma lived in the districts of Košice (9 208), Levoča (8 773), Prešov (8 202), Bratislava (6 802), Nitra (6 191), Michalovce (5 579), Rožňava (5 354), Humenné (5 238), Rimavská Sobota (4 912), Trnava (4 426) and Levice (4 047). Smaller numbers of the Roma lived in the districts of Komárno (3 499), Banská Bystrica (3 291), Lučenec (3 194), Trenčín (2 090), Martin (1 628), Ružomberok (1 205) and Žilina (799) (Jurová 1993 in Matlovič 2005, p. 240). In 1950s, the state authorities in Slovakia started to pay attention to the issue of undeveloped Roma settlements, which allows us to accurately reconstruct the historical spatial distribution of the Roma. Based on field research conducted in 1955, 1305 isolated Roma settlements were identified, in which were 14 935 dwellings and where 95 092 inhabitants lived, which was estimated to be approximately 83% of the total number of the Roma in Slovakia. The highest

82 numbers of the Roma settlements were found in the former Banská Bystrica (327), Prešov (317) and Košice (275) self-governing regions; therefore in these regions were 70.4% of the total number of the Roma settlements. The lowest number of Roma settlements was in the Žilina self-governing region (93). The highest number of inhabitants of Roma settlements was showed in the Košice (29 264), followed by the Prešov (22 937) and the Banská Bystrica (19 983) self-governing regions. In these three self-governing regions, 75.9% of the total population of Roma settlements lived in Slovakia. The lowest number of inhabitants in Roma settlements was found in the Žilina self-governing region (2 617) (Jurová 1993, p. 44). At the end of 1950s, the state authorities in Slovakia took measures to prevent nomadic way of life, which affected about 28 000 people (Jurová 2000, p. 21). During 1960s, the detailed inquiries were carried out in 1967. From the general practitioners’ data, 1 223 Roma settlements were in Slovakia with 11 242 dwellings and 14 841 families. According to the Statistical Office’s survey, at the end of 1967, 164 526 Roma lived in Slovakia, from that 89 697 (54.5%) were found in the East region, 41 498 (25.2%) in the West Region and 33 331 (20.3%) in the Central region. In accordance with cultural and social sophistication, the Roma were integrated into three groups, where the most undeveloped group consisted of 61 602 people, i.e. 37.4% of their total number (Jurová 1993 in Matlovič 2005, p. 242). In 1980, in Slovakia in accordance with the census, 199 853 Roma were recorded, who formed 4% of the total population. The Roma distribution was still regionally differentiated with an overwhelming concentration in the southern part of the central and eastern Slovakia (68% of the total number of the Roma lived there). During the post-war decennaries, the position of the Roma was strengthen in municipalities which were affected by the Carpathian Germans’ displacement (especially Spiš municipalities) as well as in areas with a decline of agricultural

83 production after the liquidation of private peasant farms, from which people migrated to economically more developed regions (especially the southern part of Slovakia). The lowest number of the Roma lived in the north of central Slovakia, especially in Kysuce and Orava regions (Víšek 1999 in Matlovič 2005, p. 243). The highest share of the Roma population was showed in the districts of Rimavská Sobota (14.2%), Rožňava (12.7%),Vranov nad Topľou (10.7%), Spišská Nová Ves (10.4%), Poprad (9.9%), Košice-country (9.9%), Lučenec (8.9%), Trebišov (8.9%), Michalovce (7.9%), Stará Ľubovňa (7.1%), Svidník (6%), Prešov (6%), Bardejov (5.8%) and Veľký Krtíš (5.6%). Less than 1% of the total population in 1980 was consisted by the Roma from the former districts of Dolný Kubín (0.1%), Žilina (0.5%), Považská Bystrica (0.5%), Čadca (0.6%) and Prievidza (0.8%) (Matlovič 2005, p. 244).

Table 1: Number development of the Roma in Slovakia, according to censuses, records of the civil service and other inquiries in years 1893-2004

Year 1893 1921* 1927 1930* 1947 1970 1980

Number 36 231 7 284 62 192 30 626 84 438 159 275 199 853

Year 1989 1991* 2001** 2001* 2004*** 2010**** 2011*

Number 253 943 75 802 379 200 89 920 320 000 352 923 105 738

Source: Horvátová (1964), Vaňo (2001b), Podolák (2000), 2000, SO SR (censuses).

Note: * data from censuses, ** Vaňo’s estimate (2001), *** by Jurásková et al, 2004. **** estimate according to the preresearch of the Atlas of Roma communities’ 2010

The last inquiry of the Roma population in the period of real socialism was held in 1989.The total number of the Roma population reached 253 943. It was

84 4.8% of the total number of population. The number of Roma settlements was reduced to 278, of which 230 were in the eastern Slovakia. In these settlements were 1 973 dwellings and 14 988 inhabitants (Jurová 1993 in Matlovič 2005, p. 244). The highest number of the Roma lived in the eastern Slovakia (140 241, i.e. 55.2% of the total number of the Roma). In the south of central Slovakia (former districts of Rimavská Sobota, Lučenec), there were 29 329 Roma, i.e. 11.5% of their total number. Overall, the southern and eastern Slovakia concentrated 66.7% of all Roma, what means that during 1980s there was no significant Roma placements within the Slovak territory. In the western Slovakia, 56 242 Roma were identified, i.e. 22.2% of their total number and in the central Slovakia 57 460 Roma, i.e. 22.6% of their total number (Podolák 2000, in Matlovič 2005, p. 245).

Graph 1: Development of the Roma population in Slovakia

Source: Horvátová (1964), Vaňo (2001b), Podolák (2000), 2000, SO SR (censuses).

Note: * data from censuses, ** Vaňo’s (2001) estimate, *** by Jurásková et al (2004) estimate, **** estimate according to the preresearch of the Atlas of Roma communities’ 2010

85 The distribution of the Roma population in Slovakia nowadays

In the most recent population and housing census in 2011, 105 738 people registered for the Roma nationality, it is 2% of the total number of population. Compared with the previous population and housing census in 2001, it was about 15 818 Roma more and their share increased from 1.7% to 2.0%. This means that the Roma nationality, according to the census results, has become the third most populous in Slovakia after the Slovak and Hungarian nationality, and overtaken the Czech nationality. Romani as mother language was reported by 122 518 inhabitants in the census sheets, which was 2.3% of the total number of population. Romani as the most widely used language in the household was reported by 128 242 inhabitants, i.e. 2.4% of the total number of population (SO SR). As we mentioned in the introduction above, census data does not reflect the actual total number of the Roma minority members, because the huge number of the Roma do not register for the Roma nationality in the official census; therefore, we based on the inquiry conducted in 2010, which we assume that it better reflects the real state. This information, however, can be still characterized as a qualified estimate so some distortions cannot be excluded. According to this survey, in 2010, 352 924 Roma with the permanent residence lived in Slovak municipalities. The share of the Roma population reached 6.5% of the total number of population. The Roma registered for the permanent residence in 1 455 municipalities out of total 2 890 municipalities (appendix map 1). This means that the Roma population was observed in 50.3% of the total municipalities of Slovakia. The Roma either live dispersed in the majority population or are concentrated in the areas, which are the parts of the territory of municipalities and towns or are spatially separated from the territories of municipalities and towns

86 and creating Roma settlements (vieska or osada). The group living in dispersion consists of 121 515 Roma, which is 34.4% of the total number of the Roma. The second part of the Roma population consists of 190 950 Roma (54.1%), concentrated in 967 areas (Roma settlements or concentrated in the territory of municipality) The spatial distribution of the Roma in Slovakia is significantly disproportionate. In general, we might assert their higher representation is in the southern and eastern Slovakia, and lower representation is in the north-western and western Slovakia. In terms of absolute numbers, the highest number of the Roma live in the district of Košice-surroundings (22 922), i.e. 6.5% of the total number of the Roma in Slovakia followed by districts of Rimavská Sobota (21 131), Spišská Nová Ves (19 036), Michalovce (17 726), Trebišov (17 234), Kežmarok (17 132), Prešov (16 376), Vranov nad Topľou (14 588), Rožňava(12 978), Lučenec (11 490) and Sabinov (10 696). The majority of all Roma in Slovakia (51.36%) live in the mentioned 11 districts. (Table 2)

Table 2: Districts with the highest absolute number of the Roma in 2010 Number of the District share to the Share of the Roma to the District Roma total number of the total number of Roma in Slovakia district’s population Košice - surroundings 22 922 6,49 % 19,71 % Rimavská Sobota 21 431 6,07 % 25,90 % Spišská Nová Ves 19 036 5,39 % 19,47 % Michalovce 17 756 5,03 % 16,12 % Trebišov 17 234 4,88 % 16,36 % Kežmarok 17 102 4,85 % 24,81 % Prešov 16 226 4,60 % 9,68 % Vranov nad Topľou 14 588 4,13 % 18,44 % Rožňava 12 978 3,68 % 20,99 % Lučenec 11 496 3,26 % 15,81 % Sabinov 10 696 3,03 % 18,52 % Revúca 9 769 2,77 % 24,18 % Poprad 9 429 2,67 % 8,97 % Bardejov 9 038 2,56 % 11,69 % Košice II 7 317 2,07 % 9,05 % Source: The Office of Slovak Government Plenipotentiary for Roma communities, SO SR

87 In connection with the distribution of the Roma population, it is interesting to observe the distribution of municipalities in which the Roma occur. In Slovakia, it is 1 455 municipalities, which is 50.3% of the total number. The highest share of municipalities with the Roma population to the total number of the district’s population is in the district of Bratislava I, 100% (it is a special case because it consists of only one municipality) followed by the districts of Šala (92.31%), Trebišov (84,15%), Rožňava (80.65%), Revúca (79.44%), Rimavská Sobota (78.57%), Lučenec (78.19%) and Gelnica (75.86%) (Table 3). In these districts, the Roma population occur at least in three-quarters of municipalities. On the other hand, the districts with a minimum share of municipalities with the Roma population is in the districts of Bratislava V (0%, made up of just 4 boroughs), Považská Bystrica (10.71%), Ružomberok (12%), Námestovo (12.5%), Dolný Kubín (12.5%) and Tvrdošín (13.3%) (Appendix map 2)

Table 3: The districts of Slovakia with the highest municipalities share with the occurrence of the Roma population in 2010 Municipality share Municipality share with the Roma District with the Roma population to the total number of the population district’s municipalities Bratislava I 1 100,00 % Šaľa 12 92,31 % Trebišov 69 84,15 % Rožňava 50 80,65 % Revúca 33 79,44 % Rimavská Sobota 84 78,57 % Lučenec 43 77,19 % Gelnica 15 75,86 % Veľký Krtíš 53 75,00 % Žiar nad Hronom 26 74,65 % Senec 22 74,29 % Poprad 21 72,73 % Žarnovica 13 72,41 % Poltár 17 72,22 % Michalovce 55 71,79 % Krupina 25 69,44 % Source: The Office of Slovak Government Plenipotentiary for Roma communities, SO SR

88 Table 4: The districts with the highest and lowest share of the Roma population in 2010 Share of the Share of the Roma Roma population population to the total District (maximum) to the total number District (minimum) number of population of population (in %) (in %) Rimavská Sobota 25,90 Bratislava V 0,00 Kežmarok 24,81 Bratislava IV 0,02 Revúca 24,18 Tvrdošín 0,07 Rožňava 20,99 Bytča 0,07 Gelnica 20,32 Námestovo 0,16 Košice - surroundings 19,71 Bratislava II 0,19 Spišská Nová Ves 19,47 Trenčín 0,20 Sabinov 18,52 Bratislava III 0,20 Vranov nad Topľou 18,44 Ilava 0,26 Trebišov 16,36 Považská Bystrica 0,40 Michalovce 16,12 Púchov 0,48 Levoča 15,83 Piešťany 0,58 Lučenec 15,81 Kysucké Nové Mesto 0,77 Medzilaborce 15,08 Čadca 0,79 Stará Ľubovňa 13,78 Pezinok 0,83 Source: The Office of Slovak Government Plenipotentiary for Roma communities, SO SR

The highest share of the Roma population (over 20%) was recorded in the districts of Rimavská Sobota (25.9% of the total number of population), Kežmarok (24.81%), Revúca (24.18%), Rožňava (20.99%) and Gelnica(20.32%). Quite a significant number of the Roma (15-20%) is in the districts of Košice - surroundings (19.71%), Spišská Nová Ves (19.47%), Sabinov (18.57%), Vranov nad Topľou (18.44%), Trebišov (16.636%), Michalovce (16.12%), Levoča (15.83%), Lučenec (15.81%), Medzilaborce (15.08%) and Stará Ľubovňa (13.78%). In terms of the traditional historical regions, the Roma are represented mainly in the regions Spiš, Gemer, Abov, central and southern Zemplín and Šariš. Minimum representation of the Roma population (less than 0.2%), is in the districts of Bratislava V (the only district in Slovakia where is no permanent residence of the Roma), Bratislava IV, Tvrdošín, Bytča, Námestovo, Bratislava II and Bratislava III (Table4). (Appendix map 3)

89 Noticeable trend is the growing share of the Roma living concentrated in the areas of the territories of municipalities and towns and in spatially separated settlements. While in 1988, only 14 988 inhabitants lived in these areas, in 2000 their number was estimated at 127 429 (Matlovič 2005, p. 251) and in 2010 it was 190 950. The highest number of these areas with Roma concentrations (settlements or other concentrations in the territory of municipalities) was in the districts of Nitra (50) and Prešov (49) followed by the districts of Trebišov (46), Michalovce (43), Košice-surrounding (42), Vranov nad Topľou (41), Rimavská Sobota (41), Dunajská Streda (40), Svidník (37), Bardejov (35), Spišská Nová Ves (33) and Rožňava (33). 10 districts have no occurrence of the area with Roma concentration. These are following, the district of Tvrdošín,Topoľčany, Ružomberok, Považská Bystrica, Piešťany, Námestovo, Hlohovec, Bytča, Bratislava V and Bratislava IV. (Appendix map 4) The distribution of the Roma living in settlements or concentrations is largely similar to their general spatial distribution. The highest share of the Roma living concentrated is in the district of Sabinov, (where they form 18.91% of the district’s population) and Spišská Nová Ves (18.49%). Other districts with higher concentration of the Roma in the areas (over 10%) are Kežmarok (14.67%), Levoča (14.27%), Medzilaborce (13.31%), Gelnica (12.83%), Svidník (12.37%), Košice-surroundings (11.75%), Vranov nad Topľou (11.09%), Rožňava (11.02%) (Table 5). On the contrary, clearly the highest share of the Roma living in dispersion is in the district of Rimavská Sobota (21.19%). From the other districts, only the district of Revúca, Lučenec and Levoča reached the amount over 10% (Table 5). (Appendix map 5, 6, 7)

90 Table 5: The districts with the highest share of the Roma population living concentrated in 2010 Share of the Roma Share of the Roma living concentrated to living concentrated to District District the total number of the the total number of the district’s population district’s population Sabinov 18,91 % Rimavská Sobota 21,19 % Spišská Nová Ves 18,49 % Revúca 14,88 % Kežmarok 14,67 % Lučenec 10,78 % Levoča 14,27 % Levoča 10,17 % Medzilaborce 13,31 % Kežmarok 9,35 % Gelnica 12,83 % Gelnica 9,29 % Svidník 12,37 % Veľký Krtíš 8,83 % Košice - surroundings 11,75 % Poltár 8,61 % Vranov nad Topľou 11,09 % Poprad 6,30 % Rožňava 11,02 % Brezno 5,89 % Revúca 9,80 % Rožňava 5,37 % Trebišov 9,40 % Levice 5,07 % Stropkov 8,84 % Šaľa 4,83 % Michalovce 8,62 % Žiar nad Hronom 4,50 % Košice II 8,29 % Košice - surroundings 4,02 % Source: The Office of Slovak Government Plenipotentiary for Roma communities, SO SR

The problem of the Roma migration within Slovakia is also noteworthy. Unfortunately, monitoring of this phenomenon is very difficult because in order to change the permanent residence, the Roma often deal with the unwillingness of mayors mainly from small municipalities (the initiative of local inhabitants) to register them. The solution, often long-time, is Roma resettlement in other municipalities without changing their permanent residence (cases of the regular seasonal resettlement have occurred). This obviously contributes to a further distortion of obtained data. The above mentioned inquiry also registered the number of the Roma in the municipality without the permanent residence. Overall, the estimated number of the Roma, living outside the municipality of their permanent residence, was approximately 24 800. It is important to note that any interpretation of their spatial distribution is problematic, as we cannot identify the places of their permanent residence.

91 As our study shows, the highest concentration of the Roma is in the eastern Slovakia, where more than 60% of their total number is concentrated. The largest share of the spatial distribution is in the Košice self-governing region (in which almost 31% of the total number of the Slovak Roma live) and the Prešov self- governing region (29.3%) followed by the Banská Bystrica self-governing region with 19.6%. On the opposite side, is the Trenčín self-governing region (1.28%), the Žilina self-governing region (1.45%) and the Bratislava self-governing region (1.95% of the total number of the Roma) (Graph 2).

Graph 2: Share of the self-governing regions to the total number of the Roma population

Source: The Office of Slovak Government Plenipotentiary for Roma communities, SO SR

92 We also outlined that the share of the Roma living concentrated in areas within the territories of municipalities and towns or spatially separated in Roma settlements is increasing. From a spatial point of view, again, above-mentioned self-governing regions are dominated, but in this case, the Prešov self-governing region is leadership, with the highest number of concentrations (282), followed by the Košice self-governing region with 217 concentrations, the Banská Bystrica self-governing region (185) and the Nitra self-governing region with 122 concentrations. More than 54% of the Roma living in settlements or concentrations are in the Košice self-governing region (9.04%) and the Prešov self-government region (8, 36). On the contrary, the highest proportion of the Roma living in dispersion from the total number of the Roma in Slovakia was registered in the Banská Bystrica self-governing region (13.36%). The Prešov and Košice self- governing region, as second and third, exceed only 6%.

Conclusion

According to our estimates, currently more than 353 000 Roma live in Slovakia, what is 6.5% of the total country’s population. They are in second place after the Hungarian minority (9.44% according to the Statistical Office). Together with other numerous national minorities, they make up about 20% of the population of Slovakia, what makes Slovakia the multi-national, respectively multiethnic state. As Vaňo (2002) notes, differences between groups, particularly the Roma ethnic, acquire such dimensions that the designation of "Roma problem" or the euphemism "Roma issue" is often used in this context. Such designation carries the negative connotation, often based on the media intensive image describing the Roma in very bad one-side light, which leads to a deepening of the barrier between the majority and the Roma minority. In the context of the European Union accentuated policies of multiculturalism strengthening, the question arises: how to

93 mitigate the existing manifestations of intolerance and to strengthen correlative respect and tolerance for cultural differences of the Roma ethnic? In our opinion, it is important to begin with careful data collecting and information databases creating about the Roma. Their subsequent analysis can be considered as a prerequisite for obtaining a real (or to move as close as possible to the reality) image of the Roma and the consequent understanding of not only their needs but also their possible involvement in shaping our society.

94 Appendix Map 1:

95 Map 2:

96

Map 3:

97

Map 4:

98 Map 5:

99 Map 6:

100 Map 7:

101 Bibliography

Gajdoš, M. et al. (2005): 1.4. Rezidenčná segregácia Rómov v rurálnom prostredí Slovenska, in stavil: Dohányos R., Lelkes G., Tóth K. (2005): Národnostné menšiny na Slovensku, Lilium Aurum, Dunajská Streda Horváthová, E., (1964): Cigáni na Slovensku. Historicko-etnografický náčrt. Vydavateľstvo SAV Bratislava, 396 p. Jurásková et al. (2004): Atlas rómskych komunít na Slvensku. 1. S.P.A.C.E., Bratoslava Jurová, A., (1993): Vývoj rómskej problematiky na Slovensku po r. 1945. Goldpress Publishers, Bratislava, 138 p. Jurová, A., (2000): Vývoj postavenia Rómov na Slovensku a otázky ich "integrácie" do spoločnosti. In: Janto, J., ed.: Integrácia Rómov na Slovensku. Acta Universitatis ss. Cyrilli et Methodii Tyrnaviae, Tomus II., Ethnologia Actualis Slovaca I - 2, Trnava, pp. 9-29. Jurová, A.,(2002): Rómovia v období od roku 1945 po november 1989. In: Vašečka, M., ed., Čačipen pal o Roma. Súhrnná správa o Rómoch na Slovensku. IVO, Bratislava, pp. 53-77. Jurová, A. (2009): The Slovak Roma people in in 1945-1947 (Regulation of the movement and continuity of persecution). Človek a spoločnosť, 2009, roč. 12, č. 1. Koganová, V., Kopecký P. (2005): Rómska problematika na pozadí vybraných faktov zo slovenskej a rumunskej reality, spring-summer, Central European Political Studies Review Vol. VI, Number 2-3, Mezinárodní politologický ústav Masarykovy univerzity v Brně ISSN 1212-7817, pp. 322-336 Liégeois, J-P. (1997): Rómovia, Cigáni, Kočovníci, Informačné a dokumentačné stredisko o Rade Európy Rada Európy, Bratislava, Charis, ISBN 80-967380-4- 6, 273 p. Loran, T. (2008): Ľudský kapitál u marginalizovaných Rómov z aspektu edukácie a potrieb znalostného trhu práce in Lelkes G., Tóth K. (Eds.)(2008): Národnostné a etnické menšiny na Slovensku 2007, Nemzetiés etnikai kisebbségek Szlovákiában, Szerk, Fórum Kisebbségkutató Intézet, Fórum inštitút pre výskum menšín, 248 p. Marcinčin, A. - Marcinčinová, Ľ. (2009): Straty z vylúčenia Rómov, Kľúčom k integrácii je rešpektovanie inakosti, accessible [online]: http://www.iz.sk/download-files/sk/osf-straty-z-vylucenia-romov.pdf, citované 18.2.2012 Matlovič, R., (2005): Geografia obyvateľstva Slovenska so zreteľom na rómsku minoritu. FHPV PU Prešov, 332 s. Podolák, P., (2000): Geografické a demografické charakteristiky rómskeho obyvateľstva na Slovensku. Geografický časopis, 52, 3, pp. 269-284.

102 SO SR: Oficiálne stránky Slovenského štatistického úradu Slovenskej republiky, accessible [online]: www.statistics.sk USPVRK (2004): Atlas rómskych komunít 2004, Úrad splnomocnenca vlády Slovenskej republiky pre rómske komunity Vaňo, B., (2001): Demografická charakteristika rómskej populácie v SR. Bratislava: INFOSTAT-Výskumné demografické centrum. Júl 2001, Edícia Akty, accessible [on-line]: http://www.infostat.sk/vdc/pdf/rom.pdf,citované 2.3.2012 Vaňo, B., (2001b): Obyvateľstvo Slovenska 1945 – 2000. Infostat, Výskumné demografické centrum, Bratislava, 74 p. Vaňo, B. (2002): Prognóza vývoja rómskeho obyvateľstva v SR do roku 2025, INFOSTAT – Inštitút informatiky a štatistiky, Výskumné demografické centrum, Edícia: Akty Bratislava. Víšek, P., (1999): Program integrace-řešení problematiky romských obyvatel v období 1970 až 1989. In: Romové v České republice 1945-1998. Socioklub, Praha, pp. 184-218.

103 Alexander Mušinka37 – Jana Kolesárová38

SITUATION OF THE ROMA IN SLOVAKIA AND THEIR STATUS IN THE CONTEMPORARY SLOVAK SOCIETY

Brief outline of the Roma situation and of associated problems

Describing the situation of Roma in Slovakia just in one sentence, we can say that it is bad and that it is still getting worse. But this will not give you a proper insight into this topic so let’s approach to the deeper analysis. Considering the scope of this issue, however the presented analysis will be just a brief outline and not a complex and exhaustive in-depth analysis. To understand the situation of the Roma in Slovakia we need to provide some basic (slightly historical) information. Until the year of 1989, the former Czechoslovak regime did not accept the Roma as a national minority, but approached them as the social group that “just“ lived in inappropriate conditions. This group was officially called “people of the Roma origin“. Their bad living conditions were perceived as a temporary state and it was belied that their change can simply occur by changing the environment in which those people lived. The fact, that this situation also has an ethic or cultural dimension, was not accepted by former regime. One of the most important reasons for this approach was the fact, that the low socioeconomic level of significant part of the Roma population was considered to be not only economical, but also ideological problem. Widely declared social equity of the citizens and their living standard were in a sharp contrast to the level achieved by the Roma (Jurová, 1993). In the above context,

37 PhD, researcher, University of Presov in Presov, Institute of Romani studies. Ul. 17. novembra 1, 081 16 Presov, e-mail: [email protected] 38 PhD-student, University of Presov in Presov, Department of Geography and regional development, Ul. 17. novembra 1, 081 16 Presov, e-mail: jkolesarova@)yahoo.com

104 therefore, it is not surprising that in the post-war period the regime was trying to change that situation only by the changing the social and material conditions of the Roma and by ignoring their cultural, ethnic, and also human needs. Some concepts and programs were applied during that period. One of the programs was aimed at damaging all of the Roma primitive settlements and spreading these inhabitants to the majority population.39 We do not have to particularly point out that this program did not work. One of the important Slovak Romist Arne Mann described this period very accurately by addressing it as a time of deculturalization and of moral and social retardation. After the change of the political regime in 1989, it has occurred also a change in the status of the Roma in Czechoslovakia (respectively in Slovakia) which resulted in both positives and negatives. The changes concerning the political status of the Roma in Czechoslovakia (respectively in Slovakia) can be considered as a highly positive. Based on the resolution no. 619 from the year 1991, the Government of CSFR40 adopted Policy Principles of the Government of CSFR for Roma minority on the 3rd October 1991. The central idea of these principles was the proposal to recognize the Roma as nationality equal to any other. Apart from that, some Roma joined the federal or national parliament at that time. We can mention Anna Koptová (member of National council of Slovak Republic) and three representatives of the Federal Assembly –Gejza Adam, Vincent Danihel, and Karol Seman. We have to say that this was very non-standard situation, since the government assigned only for a shorter period (1990-1992) and that time was also supplied by a great joy of post-revolutionary times. In addition, such a short period should prepare the ground for the regular democratic elections.

39 For more information on government policies see Kotvanová-Szép-Šebesta 2003. 40 CSFR - Czecho-Slovak Federative Republic

105 On the other hand, we must say that the Roma were not ready for all those social and economic changes after the year 1989, which resulted in massive job losses and significant social fall. These processes should be viewed as strongly negative ones. However, the situation of the Roma has not changed a lot neither by accepting them as national minority. Mentioned social decline caused by the legacy of the past regime (strong paternalistic approach of the state to this group, the dependence of the Roma on the state, low educational level and associated poor position in the labour market, the demographic situation in families etc.) on one hand and a strong pressure of European structures in the pre-joining period on the other hand forced Slovak government to redefine their attitude towards the Roma. Considerable change concerning the above situation occurred in 1995. In September of 1995, Branislav Baláž was appointed a SR Government Representative for addressing the problems of citizens who need extra help by regulation no.668/1995. This step did not change dominant position of the Department of Labour, Social Affair and family the part of which the new representative was, however it was created the first important governmental structure that should support the solving of the Roma issue, even though the Roma were still perceived in the context of broadly defined social group. First radical changes appeared after the 1998 elections which resulted into the rise of the so-called Dzurinda's first government. This government created two major institutions, the primary concern of which was the Roma people living in Slovakia. The first of these institutions was the office of Deputy Prime Minister for Human Rights, Minorities and Regional Development (Pal Csaky, a representative of the Hungarian Minorities). The more important step was the cancelling of the post of SR Government Representative for citizens who need extra help within the Department of Labour, Social Affair and Family and the

106 consequent creation of the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Government for the Roma Communities. The Roma lawyer, Vincent Danihel, became a new plenipotentiary on the 10th of February 1999. This organisational structure is still functioning. Vincent Danihel was replaced by psychologist and activist, Klára Orgovánová, who was in function till 2007. We can say that she has the greatest impact on this office from the all representatives so far. Later on, she was replaced by Anna Batošová in 2007 and two years later Anna Batošová was again replaced by Ľudovít Galbavý. Miroslav Pollák, who became the plenipotentiary in 2010, was the first nonRoma on this position. However, he was not accepted by the most of the Roma and met their unfavourable reactions. While describing the political situation of the Roma in Slovakia, we cannot forget to mention their political participation. Unlike the other states, participation of minorities in the governing on the local, regional and national level is not guaranteed by law in SR. This can be achieved only by democratic elections. No Roma ever succeeded in the parliament elections and never become a member of National council of Slovak Republic in the past years. The last elections took exception in this context, since the Roma pedagogue - Peter Pollák has succeeded. He was elected to be a member of National council of Slovak Republic. However, this does not mean, that the Roma did not try to succeed in elections before. They were appearing on the candidate lists of both major nonRoma and Roma political parties. In the recent elections, happening on 10th of March 2012, there was only one Roma political party “Party of the Roma union in Slovakia“ applying for mandates. The leader of this party has been a businessman František Tanko. The candidate list included 32 candidates, but they were not very successful. They only gained 2891 votes (0, 11%) and they were in penultimate place. There were also some other Roma candidates on the lists of other parties,

107 but they had just a poor prospects of success. Nongovernmental activists identified 25 Roma on the candidate lists of the other parties. There is a slightly better situation within the government on the regional and local level. In the last elections for self-governing municipalities, organized in November 2009, two Roma candidates were successful: Gejza Milko in Kosice self-governing region, and Miroslav Daňo in Presov self-governing region. The Roma became also successful in the last election to municipality bodies, held on 27th of November 2010. 30 Roma were elected and become the mayors of certain municipalities, but none of the Roma candidates was elected to be a mayor of some city in Slovakia. Political participation of the Roma in the Slovak public life does not bring only the positives. In many cases such involvement causes more problems than solutions. Participation of the Roma in public life, especially the occupation of the town mayor positions, caused very negative reactions at the majority population. Their dissatisfaction was manifested by publishing the negative information about literacy and attained education of Roma Mayors. This was happening not only in internet discussions and various social networks and WebPages (Facebook, YouTube a pod.), but also in national and opinion-making newspapers, TVs and radio stations. On the contrary, positive information (e.g. that the newly elected mayor has a higher education than its predecessor) were very rare and sporadic or not mentioned at all. What is more, the information about the “buying Roma votes” by candidates appeared in the media very often, even though, this tactic was primarily used by nonRoma candidates. This topic become so important that in some regions during the pre-election period to self-governing region bodies (November 2009), it was one of the key issue of the pre-election fight and subsequent objections after the elections. This issue was also presented during the parliamentary elections in 2010,

108 which resulted in to the Criminal law amendment Act valid from 1st of September 2011. Consequently such a conduct is viewed as a crime nowadays. In general, we can observe a strong radicalism of Roma issue in Slovakia in the recent years. This has happened not only at the level of “folk’s ideas” but also on the political scene. Same as in other countries, various legal or semi-legal groups with anti Roma agenda have come into existence. Probably the most active is extremely radical “Folk party Our Slovakia”. Marián Kotleba is its leader and this party has already organized many nationalistic and anti Roma protests in the Slovak towns and villages (e.g. Sarisske Michalany, Krompachy, Presov etc.). In the last elections it received up to votes 40460 (which is 1,58%). Of far greater concern in this context is the presence of anti Roma topics in the agendas of political parties, which has been a part of Slovak parliament for a longer time. As an example we can use nationalist party - Slovak national party (SNS) the leader of which is Jan Slota, or the Slovak democratic and Christian Union (SDKU). The most important representatives of such ideas are Ľudovít Kaník and a member of the Nation council of SR Štefan Kužma from Presov. Nearly in all cases their agendas are based on the arguments that the Roma minority is dominant in using generous social system of SR, the social system is misused by members of Roma minority, there is higher criminality within these groups, they build illegal buildings etc. These issues remain alive despite the fact, that the evidences show that not all of them are true. For example, according to the estimates made by The Department of Labour, Social affairs and Family and the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Government for the Roma Communities, the Roma are just the quarter of all people who get the social welfare payments provided by a state. Also the theory, that the Roma have a lot of children so they could get social benefits from the state, is in clear contradiction to reality. Only 3% of families that get social welfare payments are families with 4 and more children.

109 The negative perceptions of the Roma in Slovak society are permanently strong and they are getting even worse due to economic crises. The government is aware of this phenomenon and recently it has approved the Strategy of SR for the Roma integration up to 2020 by government resolution no. 1/2012 on 11th of January 2012. Shaping public opinion is one of the defined priorities, since different Roma population is perceived rather negatively by majority. A research conducted on this subject from 1990 shows that social distance in Slovakia is a wide-spread with the same intensity across the all social classes within Slovakia. The rate of social distance is rather stable and do not change over the time (researches AISA, FOCUS, Gfk, Markant, MVK, ÚVVM ŠÚ). Despite the fact that the Roma community in Slovakia is not socially and ethnically homogeneous, it is perceived by the majority as a homogeneous group. We do not have to particularly emphasize that such perception is rather negative. We need to say that the Roma have established a wide range of organizations and institutions, during the last 22 years. All of them represent the Roma minority very well. The Roma have a relatively well developed network of NGOs and activists, especially at the local level. However, this mino- rity still lacks ethnic integrating institution that would cover all of them (e.g. as in the case of the Hungarian minority exists Csemadok, Ruthenian minority – Ruthenian Renewal, Ukrainian minority – Union of Ruthenians -Ukrainians of Slovakia etc). Romathan, the professional Roma theatre in Kosice (director, Karol Adam), is undoubtedly one of the most important cultural institutions of the Roma minority in Slovakia. This theatre was established by the Ministry of Culture of SR in1992 and has launched more than 50 premieres so far. Since the 1992-1993 school years, there is a Secondary School of Arts and Conservatory for the Roma minority (founder, Gejza Adam) in Kosice. In 2002, there was established also the Roma

110 Press Agency (founder Christine Magdolénová), which is the only organization of that type in Slovakia up to these day. Romano nevo Lil (Roma new sheet) is the most important Roma journal in the media sector. The journal was founded in Presov in 1993 (founder is Daniela Hivešova-Šilanová, who passed away already). On the 1st of January 2002, the Museum of Culture of the Roma living in Slovakia was founded in Martin. This museum is an integral workplace of the Slovak National Museum and Ethnography Museum in Martin. Its primary mission is the documentation of material and spiritual culture of the Roma life in the past and present. Although this is undoubtedly an important institution, in the own Roma community, it is seen rather as more or less formal act, which has just certain symbolic value. Educational and academic institutions create a separate chapter. Despite the considerable efforts of some activists, Roma minority schools have not been establish in Slovakia until the present days. Although, there many schools and classes in which the majority of students are the Roma (often absolute), as the Roma ethnic schools are perceived only few of educational institutions. In addition to the above-mentioned Secondary School of Arts and Conservatory in Kosice, there are at least two other secondary schools in Slovakia, which are presented as Roma - a Private high school of Zefyrin Jiménez Mall in Kremnica, (head master, Ján Hero) and Private Grammar school, existing from 2003-2004 school year together with the Private primary school (existing from 2006-2007 school year). These are located on Galacticka Street in Kosice (director is Anna Koptová). ROCEPO - Roma educational centre in Presov works at Methodological and pedagogical centre in Presov (MPC) since 2001. Its primary goal is to meet the specific needs and conditions of the Roma minority. The emphasis is placed on effective education, information,

111 documentation and consulting services especially for teachers in schools with high numbers of Roma children and students. In the academic field of higher education, there is Department of Roma Culture (Head of Department - Rastislav Rosinský) at University of Constantine the Philosopher in Nitra since 1990 and Institute of Romani Studies (head of institute Ivan Bernasovský) at Presov University since 2010. The Roma minority in Slovakia faces a number of serious issues, which impact on their overall position in society. Perhaps the most significant problem, that we have already partially mentioned, is the social situation of the Roma community. This situation is in many cases very poor. A significant part of the Roma in Slovakia lives in marginalized Roma communities (for more information on the issue of territorial distribution of these communities in Slovakia see the paper Matlovičová, at al, 2012: The Roma population in Slovakia. Basic characteristics of the Roma population with emphasis on the spatial aspects of its differentiation), in which there are most often completely unacceptable living conditions. Here we talk about the communities with various degrees of spatial and social marginalisation. It was also recorded a high degree of concentration of the lowest social classes in these communities (so-called concentrated poverty). In general we can say that the Roma community in Slovakia, according to various studies, repeatedly occurs among those groups, which are the most vulnerable to the poverty, discrimination, and social exclusion. The causes for this situation can be found in combination of several bad factors – poverty associated with unemployment or with generally weak position in the labour market, (they usually occupy low-skilled and low paid jobs), poor educational situation, demographic conditions, discrimination etc. Any solution to this situation often comes across the problem concerning the lack of quality and nationwide researches. The calls for quality and exact data,

112 which are related to the Roma community in Slovakia, have appeared in the concept of government documents, scientific publications, and also in the society-wide discourse. During the last two decades there were implemented numbers of projects, activities and actions that had the ambition to fill this gap at least partially. However, the reality is that in most cases, these activities have had a local or specialized and more or less short-term character. Consequently, they were only very rarely systematized in the supra-regional or even national level. The first comprehensive change in researches focused on the Roma appeared in 2003. At that year the research throughout the Slovak Republic was conducted for the first time in post-revolutionary period. This Sociographic research of Roma communities in Slovakia41 resulted in publication: Atlas of Roma communities in Slovakia 200442. This research was ordered by the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Government for the Roma Communities and its primary goal was to get a wide range of information for the needs of government. This study provided first comprehensive data which could be used for the quality planning of national policies in relation to the Roma communities. The above-mentioned Atlas also allowed undertaking of some other quantitative studies, conducted by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and World Bank. Their survey was focused on living conditions in Roma households in 2005 and subsequently in 201043. Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of SR is preparing in collaboration with UNDP in period up to 2015 additional nationwide sample survey on the evolution of the

41 This research was conducted by three organisations– S.P.A.C.E. – Social Policy Analysis Centre, n.o., Institute for public issues, and KCPRO – Regional Centre for the Roma issues in Presov. 42 Radičová, I. –et al (2004): Atlas rómskych komunít na Slovensku 2004. Nadácia S.P.A.C.E., Inštitút pre verejnú politiku a Krajské centrum pre rómske otázky, Bratislava 2004. [online] [cited: 2012- 2- 20]. Accessible: http://romovia.vlada.gov.sk/20535/atlas-romskych-komunit.php 43 Even though the full research data were not published yet, some of data were partially published in Strategy of SR for the Roma integration up to 2020. Úrad splnomocnenca vlády pre rómske komunity, Bratislava, 2012 and also in paper written by Filadelfiová, J., Škobla, D.: Vybrané dáta o postavení rómskych domácností na trhu práce na základe UNDP zisťovania životných podmienok v roku 2010. In: Mušinka, A., Benč, V. – et al (2011.): Pokrízová obnova SR: zvyšovanie zamestnanosti a inklúzia Rómov. Slovenská spoločnosť pre zahraničnú politiku, Prešovská univerzita a Úrad vlády Slovenskej republiky, Prešov 2011, str. 97-103.

113 living conditions of the Roma communities called Statistical monitoring of the welfare of selected target groups. Atlas of Roma communities is going to be updated by the end of this year (2012). Atlas of Roma communities 2004 mapped a total of 1087 villages and towns, in which there were identified 1575 different types of settlements inhabited by the Roma communities. This research showed that the situation in Slovak Roma communities is not acceptable. What is more, this situation is getting worse along with the rising degree of separation or segregation. According to the selective UNDP survey in 2010, more than a half of all Roma households was living in the separate brick houses and 21% of the total households was living in the apartments. 16% of the Roma households were living in non-standard forms of dwellings (10% in primitive shelters and 5% in wooden houses or in other non- standard type of dwelling). According to the Atlas, 39% of dwellings in Roma settlements are connected to a water supply. This was confirmed also by the UNDP survey data from 2010. The results pointed at large differences in access to drinking water compared to the majority population. At the time of the research, less than a half of Roma households were supplied by public water supplies and water sources outside their own homes were used by one quarter of Roma households. The situation concerning the access to electricity is much better (almost 90% of dwellings has access to electricity). This survey confirmed also some of the demographic characteristics of the Roma community. The pre-productive age group includes 44% of the total Roma population (while19% were children under 6 years and 25% were young adults up to 25 years). The share of population on the post-productive age (pensioners) was very low and reached only 5%.The remaining 51% were economically active (working and unemployed) and economically inactive members of this minority.

114 Although the reproductive behaviour of the Roma population demonstrates some differences compared to the majority (higher birth rates, lower life expectancy, earlier start of reproductive activity and a longer reproductive period), survey data show that the demographic behaviour of Roma population follows a behaviour pattern of the majority from a long-term perspective, however with a certain time delay which is equal to the social status of individual communities. 44 It prevails a high unemployment rate within the Roma in Slovakia (as well as long-term unemployment). The sample surveys of UNDP and of the World Bank demonstrate that there is unemployment rate of about 70% and employment rate does not exceed 20%. Even these facts have confirmed that the situation in segregated communities is getting worse and that it is significantly worse for women. Considerably alarming is the situation in educational attainment. Due to the fact that educational attainment is a major limiting factor in applying to the labour market, it is very unlikely that this community will achieve positive change without external interventions in the near future. Up to 48% have completed only primary education and 17% of Roma in Slovakia do not have at all or have not completed the primary education. Only 24% of the Roma continue in secondary education. Secondary education is completed only by 16%; moreover, just 2% end the secondary school with school-leaving exam. The percentage of the Roma with University degree is statistically unimportant (although their number is growing). A truly alarming is that as much as 4% of Roma children complete special schools, i.e. schools designed for mentally or physically handicapped students or students with behaviour disorders.

44 For more information on this issue see: Vaňo, B. (2002): Prognóza vývoja rómskeho obyvateľstva v SR do roku 2025. INFOSTAT, Bratislava, 2002; Vaňo, B. (1992): Demografická charakteristika rómskej populácie v SR. INFOSTAT, Bratislava, 2001; or Mann, A.: Vývoj rómskej rodiny na príklade troch spišských obcí. In: Demografie 34, 1992, s. 118.

115 A similar unfavourable situation is also observed in other areas (health, crime, migration, economic literacy, etc.); however, the calculation of these data would greatly exceed the possibilities of this paper.

Summary

Provided insight into the Roma issue showed that the situation of this minority is more than alarming and it is getting even worse. It is generally approved that nowadays critical situation has arisen as a result of the accepted communist regime politics, which disrupted many of natural links in society. The regime was trying to change the situation of the Roma, however in the way, which had contra productive impact and the social decline has deepened after the fall of regime in 1989. Nowadays, the most problematic group of the Roma minority are those living in marginalized settlements on the edges of towns. Despite the central European position of the state, the Roma settlements resemble third world slums confronted by poverty, high unemployment rate, exploitation, violence, drug use and resignation. Living in such conditions causes additional exclusion from main stream society and its social networks, the deterioration of access to public services or the reduction of their quality, deterioration of health, and usually also the acceptance of life strategies characteristic for socially isolated and extremely poor communities. According to sociographic mapping of Roma communities (2003-2004), approximately 60% of 320 thousands Roma people live diffused through the majority population. The remaining 40% live in ethnically homogenous poor settlements under the poor living conditions. Social status of the Roma minority is commonly very low in Slovakia. Actually, the above mentioned critical issues impact on their overall position in

116 society. The Roma are being excluded from institution, public affairs, education, labour market, political scene and other social areas, where they have just slight participation. Political interest in addressing the Roma issue in Slovakia is generally insufficient. Increased action by public authorities was observed during pre-joining period to EU. Because of the strong pressure of European structures the Slovak government was forced to redefine their attitude towards the Roma. In the recent year, the important step was for example the establishment of the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Government for the Roma Communities, which has helped to approach the issue more effectively. However, political authorities still do not deal with a topic in depth, which prevents successful solutions. In addition, involvement of the Roma and increased sense of responsibility among the Roma are also required in order to meet positive changes. The challenge remains also more detailed researches which would cover missing data and flowingly could help at effective policy planning and strategy implementation.

117 Bibliography

Jurová, A. (1993): Vývoj rómskej problematiky na Slovensku po roku 1945. Goldpress Publishers, Bratislava – Košice 1993. pp. 138. ISBN 10 8085584077 Kotvanová, A. – Szép, A. – Šebesta, M.( 2003): Vládna politika a Rómovia 1948- 002. Slovenský Inštitút Mmedzinárodných Štúdií, Bratislava, 2003. Mann, A. (1996): Problém identity Rómov. In: Rómovia v majoritnej spoločnosti na Slovensku (dynamika etnosociálnych a kultúrnych vzťahov), súbor štúdií, Kandidátska dizertačná práca, Slovenská akadémia vied, Bratislava 1996. Mann, A. (1992): Vývoj rómskej rodiny na príklade troch spišských obcí. In: Demografie 34,Praha, 1992, pp.118. Multikulty (2012): Rómska verejná politika - spravodaj. Nadácia Milana Šimečku, Bratislava, č 1, 2012. [online] [cited: 2012- 3- 10]. Accessible: http://www.multikulti.sk/dok/Spravodaj-RVP-1_2012.pdf Mušinka, A.- Benč, V.-et al(2011): Pokrízová obnova SR: zvyšovanie zamestnanosti a inklúzia Rómov. Slovenská spoločnosť pre zahraničnú politiku, Prešovská univerzita a Úrad vlády Slovenskej republiky, Prešov. 2011. Radičová, I. - et al (2004): Atlas rómskych komunít na Slovensku 2004. Nadácia S.P.A.C.E., Inštitút pre verejnú politiku a Krajské centrum pre rómske otázky, Bratislava 2004. [online] [cited: 2012-2-20]. Accessible: http://romovia.vlada.gov.sk/20535/atlas-romskych-komunit.php Úrad splnomocnenca vlády pre rómske komunity,(2011):Stratégia Slovenskej republiky pre integráciu Rómov do roku 2020. Bratislava, 2011. [online] [cited: 2012- 2- 20]. Accessible: http://www.ksuza.sk/doc/metodika/bozp/20012012.pdf Vaňo, B.(2001): Demografická charakteristika rómskej populácie v SR. INFOSTAT, Bratislava, 2001 Vaňo, B.(2002): Prognóza vývoja rómskeho obyvateľstva v SR do roku 2025. INFOSTAT, Bratislava, 2002 Vašečka, M.- at al (2003.): Čačipen pal o Roma - Súhrnná správa o Rómoch na Slovensku. Bratislava, Inštitút pre verejné otázky, 2003. pp. 528. ISBN 80−88935−46−6

118 Maria Soja45, Andrzej Zborowski46

GYPSIES/ROMANI IN POLAND – OUTLINE OF THE TOPIC

Introduction

The development of Romani studies in Poland dates back to the second half of the 20th century, notably owing to the publications by Jerzy Ficowski (1953, 1985, 1989) and Tadeusz Pobożniak (1972). Based on knowledge acquired during wanderings with Gypsy camps at the turn of the 1940s and 1950s, the publications by J. Ficowski (a poet, a writer, a journalist, a translator) have, to this date, constituted the foundations of Polish Romani studies. An undoubtedly valuable paper, commendable to those who have only just begun studying this community, is the book by J. Ficowski, Cyganie na polskich drogach (1985). His fascination with the Romani culture made possible obtaining information about this community’s customs, language and everyday life, as well as the history and origins of the Gypsies. He was the first author in Poland to become engaged in the problems of the Romani community by establishing personal contacts with its numerous representatives, and learned the Romani language. He also managed to obtain numerous unpublished documents which are often referred to in this publication. What is more, he enclosed a glossary of words originating from various Romani . Tadeusz Pobożniak (an orientalist and indologist), as a linguist, conducted studies of the origin and migrations of the Gypsies, the results of which he included in the publication O Cyganach (1972). Among the contemporary researchers are mainly ethnologists, cultural anthropologists, and sociologists. One of them is an ethnologist, Adam Bartosz, a

45 PhD hab., assistant professor, Jagiellonian University, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management – 7 Gronostajowa St., Cracow, Polska 46 PhD hab., assistant professor, Jagiellonian University, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management – 7 Gronostajowa St., Cracow, Polska; e-mail: [email protected]

119 friend of the Carpathian Gypsies, the director of the Regional Museum in Tarnów where he created the first permanent exhibition worldwide devoted to the history and culture of the Gypsies. He is the author of the book Nie bój się Cygana (1994, 2004), which describes not only their history, but also everyday life. Another ethnologist is Andrzej Mirga, an author of numerous articles on the subject of the Romani, as well as the co-author, along with the anthropologist Lech Mróz, of the book Cyganie. Odmienność i nietolerancja (1994). The authors try to address questions referring to the identity of the Gypsies, they enclose maps of migration directions and language influences. The sociologists, who obtain information directly from the , conduct studies whose subject matter is slightly different. The main stress is placed on issues connected with the perception of the Romani community, their social situation and status, marginalization and discrimination of this group. Examples of such studies are papers edited by Ewa Nowicka: Sytuacja Romów w Polsce. U nas dole i niedole (1999b) and Romowie o sobie i dla siebie (2003). Additionally, the sociologists deal with legal issues pertaining to the protection of the Gypsies as a national (ethnic) minority in Poland and Europe (Łodziński S., 1999). A publication presenting the history of the Gypsies against a background of historic events in Europe is the book by Angus Fraser The Gypsies published in 1992 in Great Britain, and only published in 2001 in Poland with the title Dzieje Cyganów. The book is a compilation of knowledge about the Romani based on comprehensive publications from around the world as well as documents, chronicles and court files. In gypsology literature, the term Gypsy (Gypsies) has been used, however, the use of the word Romani (which simply means „a human being”) has recently become more and more widespread. This trend has complied with the wish of Gypsy activists and with the principle of political correctness. Yet, when writing

120 about the past, most authors will still use the term Gypsies owing to its lack of implication that the Romani awareness had already become a common phenomenon at the onset of their European history. Also, this term referring to them is found in e.g. historical documents, it is also used by the Romani themselves when they introduce themselves. (Mirga A. - Gheorge N., 1997; Fraser A., 2001; Mróz L., 2001; Bartosz A., 2002). The Gypsies constitute an idiosyncratic „multicultural” community which does not correspond with the traditional definition and image of a national minority. They live dispersed around the whole Europe, they are divided internally, they exhibit tendencies to nomadic lifestyle, they do not have their own state to take their side. They represent an example of a typical “non-territorial community” without its own ethnic territory, making no territorial claims to other countries. The Romani are a community of clans, its character is strongly based on blood ties. Their internal principles of conduct are defined by a traditional moral code (romanipen) based on the idea of defilements, i.e. sanctions of social character. In the Gypsy environment, a very important institution of social character is the family, which is typical of nomadic peoples. It is of patriarchal character, monogamic, with a number of children, patrilocal (a woman comes to live with her husband’s family); usually, it is also ruled by the principle of endogamy, i.e. getting married to a person from one’s own group. Marriages are contracted at an early age. What is extremely characteristic of a Gypsy family is the immense respect for the elderly and the care devoted to children (Ficowski J., 1985; Pobożniak T., 1972; Bartosz A., 2002, 2004; Mirga A., 1997; Nowicka E., 1999a; Mróz L., 2007). Depending on the approach, the Gypsies are defined as either an ethnographic group or an ethnic group which is only now in the process of forming its separate political and national identity. The forming process of national identity and bonds

121 with other Gypsies dispersed in Europe or around the world is a relatively new phenomenon that has been observed for over 30 years (Mirga A. - Gheorge N., 1997). In Poland the Romani are a recognized ethnic minority (besides Lemkos, Tatars and the Crimean Karaites), according to the Act of 6 January 2005 on national and ethnic minorities and on the regional languages (Journal of Laws No. 17 of 2005, item 141). Polish legislation specifies in detail the rights of national minorities. However, it should be noted that all legal acts regulating these issues were only introduced in democratic Poland, after 1989. The legislation of the People's Republic of Poland, by assuming national and ethnic homogeneity, did not regulate this issue.

Ethnolinguistic groups

The Gypsies who live in Poland can be divided into four main groups, diverse in terms of culture and language (Ficowski J., 1985). Three of them used to lead a nomadic lifestyle, whereas the fourth one has lived a settled lifestyle.

The most numerous group of Gypsies in Poland is the one which still lived a nomadic lifestyle as short ago as at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, namely: 1/ (Polish Lowlander Gypsies), the oldest group of Gypsies, living on Polish territory since the 16th century after having migrated from the Western Europe (a flight from persecution). These days the representatives of the group mainly live in minor towns of central Poland. One of the exceptions is the town of Tarnów, situated in the South East of the country. From this ethnic group originate the Gypsies of the borderland: Chaładytka Roma in the East (originating from the former ), Sasytka Roma in the West (from the former Prussian partition) and Galicjaki in the South of the country (from the former Austrian partition);

122 2/ The (Kalderari – Copper-smiths), who arrived in the second half of the 19th century from Romanian-speaking territories (mass migrations resulting from, among other factors, the abolition of slavery of the Gypsies in 1864); 3/ The Lovari (Horse breeders) also arrived in the second half of the 19th century, but they came from Hungarian-speaking territories. Similarly to the Kalderash, they mainly live in big cities of Poland, e.g. Cracow, Wrocław, Poznań and .

A group that is different from, and less numerous than, the abovementioned is the group of the Carpathian Gypsies (Polish Highlander Gypsies) – , who have been living a settled lifestyle for centuries. They constitute the poorest group of Gypsies. This group’s representatives live in Carpathian villages, mostly those situated in the Podhale and Nowy Sącz counties. They arrived in this territory while travelling along the bend of the Carpathians, probably with the migrations of the Vlachs. The people mainly live in mountainous areas of the Voivodeship, but their communities can also be found in towns of Upper and Lower Silesia, as well as in Nowa Huta, where in 1950s the Romani were employed (during the construction of metallurgical industrial complex) as part of productive integration policy (Bartosz A., 2002). One of characterictic features of permanent settlement of the Carpathian Gypsies was establishing settlements on the peripheries of villages (e.g. in Maszkowice) or in places referred to as Kamieniec – ownerless territories, predominantly of floodland qualities (e.g. the village of Czarna Góra in Gmina Bukowina Tatrzańska). The Gypsies do not have their own religion. Typically, they adopt the religion of the country where they have settled. The Romani in Poland are predominantly followers of the Roman Catholic Church, some are also followers of the Orthodox Church, members of the Pentecostal Church or Jehovah's Witnesses. In the post-war period the future of the Romani was to be defined by the state policy aiming at their integration and assimilation. The primary motto of that

123 policy was the so-called productive integration as well as literacy and numeracy education. The first to be conducted was spatial stabilization of the Gypsy population by means of introduction of administrative orders of settlement. The process, which began in the 1950s (when 75% of 15 thousand Gypsies lived nomadic lives), had practically been completed in the second half of 1970s. According to A. Mirga (1997), in 1983 only 34 families (388 people) were recorded as nomadic – as opposed to the 657 families in 1964, 205 families (1069 people) in 1970 and 85 families (453 people) in 1976. The Nomads were mainly the representatives of the Polska Roma group, but there were also representatives of the Kalderash and the Lovari among them. The compulsory settlement had an unintended effect of Gypsy families scattering around the whole territory of Poland. Despite registered permanent residence, the Romani had, to a considerable extent, remained spatially mobile. For example, in the years from 1980 to 1983 every seventh Gypsy family changed their permanent residence (Mirga A., 1997).

Estimates and number of the Romani

Geographical studies devoted to nationality issues require the numbers of particular national and ethnic minorities residing in a given country or region to be defined, and their spatial distribution to be presented. The sources of information for this type of studies are censuses including nationality-related questions and providing aggregated data for various units of territorial division of a country: voivodeships, counties, gminas, cities or towns and villages. The Polish Central Statistical Office conducted 9 general censuses (in 1921, 1931, 1950, 1960, 1970, 1978, 1988, 2002 and 2011) with the issues of nationality and creed included only in the censuses from 1921 and 1931, and the issue of

124 nationality only in the censuses from 2002 and 2011. The structure of Poland in terms of nationality was defined in the years of 1921, 2002 and 2011 (statistical data from the last census have not been published yet) based on declared nationality, whereas in 1931 indirectly – based on the criterion of language verified with the criterion of language of creed (Soja M., 2005a). Thus, for a few decades in Poland, due to the lack of official and available statistical data, only estimated data, which have been very diversified, could be used in the studies. For example, the percentage of national minorities in Poland was estimated at between 1.2 % and 5.1 % of the population in total, i.e. from 0.5 to approximately 2.0 million people. The only ethnic minority whose estimates remained stable for a few decades is that of the Romani. Their population number was estimated at 25–30 thousand people. Such consistency of estimates has practically lasted since the second half of the 18th century (Narbutt I., 1850), up to the present day (Żołędowski C., 1995; Bartosz A., 1998; Chałupczak H. – Browarek T., 2000). In the National General Census from 2002, for the first time in the history of Polish censuses, the presence of the Romani minority group was recognized. The Romani nationality was declared by 12 855 people, while 15 788 people admitted to speaking the Romani language on a daily basis, that is over 20% more than those who declared Romani nationality. One of the factors causing such differences could have been the order in which the questions were asked during the general census. Citizenship was to be declared before nationality and the language used. The Gypsies have always commonly considered themselves citizens of the countries they are currently inhabiting. This might be the reason why a part of those declaring Polish citizenship declared Polish nationality and Romani language. A possibility should not be excluded that such conduct may have been

125 caused by the fear of disclosing one’s nationality, the fear of discrimination. In case of the Romani, one more aspect related to the language spoken is worth noting. Undoubtedly, the element which most distinguishes the Romani, but also isolates them from the rest of the society of a given country, is the language. Therefore, it appears that the number of people speaking the Romani language is closer to the actual number of the Romani in Poland than the number of people declaring Romani nationality. Discrepancies between the estimates and the official state statistics are considerably diversified. According to the researchers dealing with the subject of the Romani (Mirga A. - Gheorghe N., 1997; Bartosz A., 1998; Fraser A., 2001, Mróz L., 2007) the difficulties in defining the exact size of this group result from various factors, including ones such as: overestimation of the Romani population numbers by representatives of Romani organizations; the Romani declaring nationality other than Romani, e.g. dominant nationality of the country they reside in; the Romani fearing to declare their own nationality, in other words, fearing discrimination and persecution; poor reliability of official sources (e.g. state administration of various levels) which frequently underrate the Romani population numbers or fail to treat them as national minority and omit them in statistics; finally, a significant factor resulting from great difficulties in defining unequivocally the population of the Gypsies-Romani (regardless of whether they live settled or nomadic lives). The official state statistics, based on data obtained from censuses, are in most cases considered as offering little reliability.

126 Demographics of the Romani

The Romani population is mainly characterized by demographic youth. Children and the youth constitute over 36% of their total population (over 23% in Poland), whereas the elderly constitute only 4.5%, which is three times less than the country’s average (2002). Life expectancy (55–60 years) is shorter by 10–20 years than the European average. In terms of the structure of sexes, men are the predominant sex (over 50%). The Romani families are mutli-children families. Although contracting a marriage at a very young age is one of their characteristic features, more than half of them are unmarried. Contracting a marriage in the Romani culture is conducted in a very traditional way, observing a culture principle of entering into a marriage within one’s own group in order to protect it against the loss of members, but also to strengthen isolation and maintain the state of separateness (endogamy). A characteristic which has great influence on the difficult situation of the Romani is low level of education, therefore lack of professional qualifications, which consequently leads to unemployment and poverty. Most Romani in Poland have only completed primary level education (about 40%), while over 50% have not completed primary level of education. So far, only a small group of the Romani have completed higher (0.2%), secondary (about 3%) and vocational (about 5%) levels of education. Also, the number of the employed is low (over 8%), with the unemployment figures nearly three times higher (31%) for the Romani than the country’s average, which is approximately 12%. Little social activity along with low standard of life are the causes of marginalization and social exclusion. Most Romani families are aided by local self-government authorities, for example, as part of state programs developed to the benefit of the Romani community, implemented since 2001 (Pilotażowy Program…, 2001).

127 Spatial distribution of the Romani

Poland is a homogeneous country in terms of nationality and ethnicity, one of the most uniform European countries in this respect. National and ethnic minorities constitute merely 1.23% of the population of Poland. Among the non-Polish population, the percentage of the Romani is the highest in the following voivodeships: Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (30.0 %), Łódź and Wielkopolska Voivodeships (over 25.0% each) as well as over 20.0 % in each of the Lublin, Kuyavian-Pomeranian and Małopolska Voivodeships (Fig. 1). A characteristic feature of the distribution of the Romani in the countries of Central Eastern Europe is spatial segregation manifesting itself in concentration or dispersion of this community on the territory of a given country. The Romani most frequently live in settlements located peripherally in relation to city or village centres, isolated from other buildings. In village areas, these are mostly settlements located by a river, on floodlands or on the so-called kamieniec – the “no man’s land”. In the countries of Central Eastern Europe the “migration policy” aimed at the Gypsies has led to the strengthening of spatial segregation processes – concentration of the Romani community in selected areas, most commonly borderland areas of a country. In the 20th century, we even witnessed the formation of ghettos for the Romani.

128

Fig. 1: The Romani included in the total number of non-Polish population in 2002 (by voivodeships). Source: Soja M (2005a).

Distribution of the Romani in Poland is characterized by a considerable simplification. Usually, they reside cities around the whole country (92% of the total), whereas the villages inhabited by the Romani are only those in the southeastern part of Poland. This trend particularly applies in case of the Bergitka Roma group, settled for ages, which lives in the mountainous areas of the Carpathians (Fig. 2). With the relatively low population numbers (when compared to other countries), there are no major spatial concentrations of this community. Cities with the biggest concentration of people declaring Romani nationality are the following: Wrocław (467 people), Mielec (349), Łódź (330), Nowy Sącz (306),

129 Cracow (264), Bytom (231), Puławy (225), (213). These data come from the National General Census from 2002 and are probably considerably underrated.

Fig. 2: Cities and gminas inhabited by population declaring Romani nationality (over 10 people) in 2002. Source: based on data from National Polish Census of 2002, Central Statistical Office.

Summary

The change of Polish political system in 1989 along with the country’s pursuit of integration with Western European countries led to the issues of national and ethnic minorities acquiring a priority status in the country’s internal policy. The outcome is Polish legislation from the beginning of the 20th century which

130 specifies in detail the rights of national and ethnic minorities in accordance with European Union standards. Distribution of Romani communities in Europe, including Poland, as well as diversity regarding their social status is the result of historic processes, but also socio-political and economic conditions. The majority of the Romani (over 2/3 of their population) live in southern European countries and the countries of Central Eastern Europe (Soja M., 2005b). Poland is a homogeneous country in terms of nationality and ethnicity, one of the most uniform European countries in this respect. According to data obtained in National General Census in 2002, 1.23% of the total 38.2 million of Polish population residing in Poland declared non-Polish nationality. Most commonly, these are representatives of nations which have long been present on Polish territory, mostly living in clusters. When compared to other minorities, the Romani are characterized by a relatively low population number and spatial segregation manifesting itself in dispersion of this community countrywide. The uniting Europe is becoming a community of nations not separated from one another by political borders or racial prejudices. It is a community of societies which tolerate and accept the existence of multiculturalism. For the Romani living in the European Union countries, this means an opportunity to gradually stop living in isolation, stop living on the periphery of social life. This process is undoubtedly bound to take a long time, and one of the things it should be accompanied by is overcoming the barriers of stereotypical perception of the Romani by international community.

131 Bibliography

Bartosz, A. (1994): Nie bój się Cygana. Sejny: Fundacja Pogranicze. Bartosz, A. (1998): Cyganie. Rroma - Gypsies, Przewodnik po wystawie. Tarnów: Muzeum Etnograficzne w Tarnowie. Bartosz, A. (2002): O Cyganach w Karpatach, Zakorzenienie, Wielokulturowość w Karpatach. Biuletyn Stowarzyszenia na rzecz Wielości Kultur. Numer specjalny. Bielsko-Biała. Wyd. Stowarzyszenia „Olszówka”. Bartosz, A. (2004): Nie bój się Cygana. Na dara Romestar. Sejny: Fundacja Pogranicze, (2nd ed.). Chałupczak, H. – Browarek, T. (2000): Mniejszości narodowe w Polsce 1918- 1995. Lublin: Wydawnictow Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej. Ficowski, J. (1953): Cyganie polscy. Szkice historyczno-obyczajowe. Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy. Ficowski, J. (1985): Cyganie na polskich drogach. Kraków – Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Literackie, (3rd ed.). Ficowski, J. (1989): Cyganie w Polsce. Dzieje i obyczaje. Warszawa: Wyd. Interpress. Fraser, A. (2001): Dzieje Cyganów. Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy. Łodziński, S. (1999): Problemy ochrony Romów (Cyganów) jako mniejszości narodowej (etnicznej) w Europie w latach dziewięćdziesiątych. Perspektywa międzynarodowa i krajowa. Sytuacja Romów w Polsce. U nas dole i niedole. Ed. Nowicka E. Kraków: Zakład Wydawniczy NOMOS. Mirga, A. (1997): Romowie w historii najnowszej Polski. Mniejszości narodowe w Polsce. Mirga, A. – Gheorghe, N. (1997): Romowie w XXI wieku. Studium polityczne. Kraków: Wyd. UNIVERSITAS. Mirga, A. – Mróz, L. (1994): Cyganie. Odmienność i nietolerancja. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. Mróz, L. (2001): Dzieje Cyganów - Romów w Rzeczypospolitej XV-XVIII wiek. Warszawa: Wyd. DiG. Mróz, L. (2007): Od Cyganów do Romów. Z Indii do Unii Europejskiej. Warszawa: Wyd. DiG. Narbutt, I. (1850): Rys historyczny ludu cygańskiego. Wilno: Nakładem i drukiem A. Marcinowskiego. Narodowy Spis Powszechny Ludności i Mieszkań z 20 maja 2002. Warszawa: GUS. Nowicka, E. (1999a): Rom jako swój i jako obcy. Zbiorowość Romów w świadomości społeczności wiejskiej. Sytuacja Romów w Polsce. U nas dole i niedole. Ed. Nowicka E. Kraków: Zakład Wydawniczy NOMOS.

132 Nowicka, E. Ed. (1999b): Sytuacja Romów w Polsce. U nas dole i niedole. Kraków: Zakład Wydawniczy NOMOS. Nowicka, E. Ed. (2003): Romowie o sobie i dla siebie. Nowe problemy i nowe działania w pięciu krajach Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej. Warszawa: Instytut Socjologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego. Pilotażowy Program Rządowy na rzecz społeczności romskiej w województwie małopolskim na lata 2001-2003 (2001). Warszawa: Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych i Administracji. Pobożniak, T. (1972): Cyganie. Seria: Nauka dla wszystkich, No. 176. Kraków: PWN Oddział w Krakowie. Soja, M. (2005a): Struktura narodowościowa i etniczna Polski w świetle wyników Narodowego Spisu Powszechnego Ludności i Mieszkań z 20 maja 2002 r.” Geografia i Sacrum. Profesorowi Antoniemu Jackowskiemu w 70. rocznicę urodzin. Ed. Domański B. - Skiba S. Kraków: Instytut Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego,. Soja, M. (2005b): Gypsies/Romani – European non-territorial national minority. The role of borderlands in United Europe. Historical, Ethnic and Geopolitical Problems of Borderlands, Region and Regionalism. Ed. Koter M., Heffner K. No. 7, vol. 2. Łódź–Opole: University of Łódź, Department of Political Geography and Regional Studies, Governmental Research Institute, Silesian Institute in Opole, Silesian Institute Society,. Ustawa o mniejszościach narodowych i etnicznych oraz o języku regionalnym z 6.01.2005 r. Dziennik Ustaw 2005, nr 17, poz. 141. Żołędowski, C. (1995): Mniejszości narodowe w Polsce. Polska’95. Raport o rozwoju społecznym. Warszawa: Wyd. Split Trading.

133 134

ROMA IDENTITY AND CULTURE

135

136 Robert Faracik47, Mirosław Mika48, Robert Pawlusiński49

THE ROMA CULTURAL HERITAGE IN POLAND – SELECTED ASPECTS

Introduction

Poland is an ethnically homogenous country. Ethnic and national minorities constitute (according to various sources) from 1% to approximately 5% of the total number of inhabitants. According to the 2002 Census, the number of Romani living in Poland was estimated approximately at 3 thousand people, thought other sources say even about 30 thousand (Soja 2005). It is the least numerous Roma community among all Central and Eastern European countries but it is strongly distinguished from other minorities by its exceptional culture. During the system transition (after 1989) the participation of minorities’ (including Roma people) in social, political and cultural life has significantly increased. Many actions in this field are possible only due to financial support from governmental institutions as well as from the European Union budget. In the following article particular attention was drawn to selected aspects of the broadly-understood historical and cultural heritage of the Roma people in Poland, including traditional culture, language, literature and folklore. The events of World War II are also an important element of the Roma legacy and the extermination of Roma people has become a common denominator uniting this strongly dispersed diaspora.

47 PhD, assistant with a doctorate, Jagiellonian University, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management – 7 Gronostajowa St., Cracow, Polska; e-mail: [email protected] 48 PhD, assistant with a doctorate, Jagiellonian University, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management – 7 Gronostajowa St., Cracow, Polska; e-mail: [email protected] 3 PhD, assistant with a doctorate, Jagiellonian University, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management – 7 Gronostajowa St., Cracow, Polska; e-mail: [email protected]

137 Traditional Roma culture and the contemporary forms of its popularisation in Poland

The Roma people living in Poland are not a homogenous community. They are divided into four main groups – diverse in terms of language, internal organisation, customs and the time of migration to Polish lands as well as the direction from which they came. The four groups are: Polska Roma (Polish Lowland Gypsies), Kalderash people, Lovari people and Carpathian Gypsies (Polish Highland Gypsies, Bergitka Roma) (see: Soja, Zborowski in this book). They have never had a homogenous community organisation. The factors significant to their existence were: lifestyle (settled or nomadic), occupation or craftsmanship character as well as the area on which they stayed at a given moment – this factor was significantly meaningful, especially for the Roma wandering in caravans (in this sense the Carpathian Roma are exceptional as they have led a settled lifestyle since 18th century). Life in the Roma community is based on unwritten, time-honoured law Romanipen. It regulates all aspects of the Roma life and is, at the same time, a source of knowledge about the people’s origin. One of the basic characteristics of Romanipen is patriarchy – a man – the head of the family is subordinate to the leader and the elders of the kin. All of them guard over observing Romapen. Acting against these rules is perceived as defilement (mageripen). According to the tradition, the Roma origin should be manifested as it is of the utmost value. Other Roma people should be spoken to only in the Romani language. Moreover, solidarity, help and observing both ceremonies and rituals are obligatory. The law also regulates permissions to practice particular professions or to earn a living. The traditional professions are: copper smithing, smithery, horse trade, music performance and fortune-telling (kabala). There are also professions forbidden by the Roma tradition which is a serious obstacle to adjusting to the demands of the

138 modern world. According to the narrowly-interpreted rules of Romapen, children’s education is also limited. However, efforts made by educated Roma elites to break those deeply-rooted beliefs need to be emphasised. Despite the division to many groups; diverse in terms of tradition, history, religion or lifestyle; the uniting elements to the Roma people, no matter where they live, are: superiority of custom law, patriarchy and great authority of elder people (Nowicka, E. 2003; Kowarska, A. 2005; Paleczny, T. 2003). The Roma culture is perceived by non-Gypsy people mainly through the specific folklore in which the most significant characteristics are: rich women’s costumes, music and dance. It is undoubtedly a stereotype-breaking element, uniting the Roma and the Polish. This becomes noticeable during numerous Roma culture festivals held in various places in Poland. The biggest and most interesting such events are: International Meetings of Roma Groups Romane Dyvesa in Gorzów Wielkopolski, International Festival of Roma Songs and Music in Ciechocinek and World Meetings with Roma Music in Poznań. Gorzów Wielkopolski is one of the most important Roma culture and arts centres, its origins date back to 1947 when the first caravan with Gypsy artist families came to the neighbouring Wieprzyce from the former Polish eastern frontier. As a consequence, they started the long tradition of Gorzów as a Roma culture centre, especially in terms of music and dance. Here, in 1955, Edward Dębicki put forward an initiative of creating the ‘Terno’ group (originally ‘Kham’) which gradually popularised Roma music and dance in Poland. It became even more possible in 1965 when the members of the group were entitled professional stage artists and the group itself became ‘professional’. ‘Terno’ has performed up to present days and, apart from Poland, it could be seen in almost whole Europe as well as the USA and Canada. Gorzów Wielkopolski was also the place where the greatest Roma poet, Bronisława Wajs ‘Papusza’, wrote her poetry.

139 Ciechocinek (one of the largest Polish health resorts) is related to Don Wasyl who is one of the greatest Polish Roma artists. In 1987 he established the Artist Group Don Wasyl & ROMA which, currently as Don Wasyl and Gypsy Song Stars, is one of the most well-known popularisers of the Roma culture in Poland. Originally the group refers to the tradition of the Gypsy Song and Dance Group ROMA, started right after World War II which is one of the greatest Gypsy groups in Poland. The World Meetings with Roma Music are held with the initiative of the ‘Bahtałe Roma’ Foundation, located in Poznań (Roma House). Related to the foundation is the TATRA ROMA group started and led by Miklosz Deki Czureja, born in Niedzica, Spis in a Roma family of Hungarian origin, a great violinist called ‘the king of czardas’. Consequently, the folklore of Hungarian Roma (ballads, czardases) is present in the group’s repertoire, along with classic compositions of F. Liszt or J. Brams. Also in many other places in Poland (for example Wrocław, Łódź, Warszawa, Zakopane, Glinojeck, Lubań, Supraśl) numerous cultural events are held, both of cyclic and one-time character. In many cases, they are events lasting for several days which are the opportunity to experience Roma culture, history and arts, both historical and contemporary.

The Roma language (Romani) and Papusza’s oeuvre

The diversity of the Roma people in Poland also influences linguistic matters. Particular Roma groups/tribes use their own dialects. The Roma language itself is on of the most important elements of the Roma heritage and determines the ethnicity of the broadly-understood Roma community. The lack of Romani written version makes the transfer of oral tradition among particular groups an even more

140 important identity-defining factor. However, currently the matter of language’s written version has become a necessity. In various countries Romani is written with alphabets characteristic for the language used in a particular country. Therefore, in Poland mainly Polish diacritic marks are used. Additionally, marks of other linguistic origin can be sometimes found. The lack of regulations in this matter frequently leads to randomness of notation. It has become necessary to prepare consistent rules of Romani spelling which is contributed to by meetings of the Working Group of the Romani Language Matters appointed by the Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration. The members of the Group are linguists as well as specialists in the Romani language. Creating common and coherent rules as well as their consistent observation will, undoubtedly, raise the importance of the Romani language among other languages of national and ethnical minorities in Poland. On 5th November the International Day of the Romani Language is celebrated, established in 2009. The celebration of this Day is an additional occasion to discuss the problems of the Romani language in Poland and in other countries. Another celebration of the Roma community is the International Day of Roma People on 8th April which was established during IV International Congress of the Roma People Association which took place in Poland in 1990. The most important figure in Polish Roma literature is undoubtedly Bronisława Wajs, commonly known as Papusza. She was probably born in 1908 and revealed interest in learning to read and write since her childhood which was very hindered, especially for a Roma girl. She learnt on her own, often furtively, with the help of people living in her neighbourhood. As a result, she started creating poems and songs in Romani and wrote them down phonetically, using the rules of Polish spelling that she had learnt. She was the first Roma poet in Poland to write

141 knowingly. She also wrote her own observations concerning the life of Gypsies and her letters in Polish. Her figure is contemporarily known owing to Jerzy Ficowski who was her friend. Papusza enabled J. Ficowski to learn about the life of Polish Gypsies as well as their traditions. He consequently became one of the greatest experts on Roma matters in Poland, considering that at the time (the end of the 40s as well as the 50s and 60s of 20th century) the Roma community was extremely hermetic and did not allow strangers (described as gadzio). Such J. Ficowski’s books as: Cyganie polscy. Szkice historyczno-obyczajowe (Ficowski, J. 1953), Cyganie na polskich drogach (Ficowski, J. 1986) , or Cyganie w Polsce. Dzieje i obyczaje (Ficowski, J. 1989) (Polish Gypsies. History and custom sketches, The gypsies on Polish roads, The Gypsies in Poland. History and Customs) are permanently present in the canon of Polish Gypsy studying literature. He also translated Papusza’a poems into Polish which were then published owing to Julian Tuwim. A world premiere of a symphonic poem by a great composer, Jan Kanty Pawlusikiewicz, entitled Papusza’s Harps and inspired by the works of the Roma poet, was a great cultural event. It took place in 1994 in Krakow as a part of commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Roma extermination during World War II. It was an open-air performance set on Błonia that are considered to be the largest grassland in the centre of a European city. For the purposes of this performance an amphitheatre for 10 thousand people was set with walls built with 70 huge paintings from the STU Theatre’s collection. The solo parts were sung by well-known soloists with Gendolyn Bradley – a star of New York Metropolitan Opera and Elżbieta Towarnicka among them.

142 The Roma extermination during World War II as a common experience for the Roma and Sinti from all over Europe

The events of World War II are one of the most dramatic experiences of the Roma people from all over Europe. It is an important element of the identity of both Roma and Sinti from around the world which unites this strongly diverse and internally divided community (Karpalski, S. 2011). The awareness of those events has gradually become a common ground for understanding, also in terms of international relations. During a long period after the war, this topic was discussed relatively seldom and was overshadowed by the Jewish Holocaust, in fact it became a ‘forgotten holocaust’ (Fraser, A. 2001). Actually, the monuments and other forms commemorating the lot of the Roma during the war have only been created in the past 15-20 years. After the Jews, it was the Roma people who became an unwanted ‘element’ in the Nazi politics’ understanding. About ¼ out of approximately 1 million of the Roma living in Europe before the war did not survive (Szuchta, R. – Trojański, P. 2006). The Roma died both in concentration camps and extermination camps as well as during raids and shooting executions which very often happened in the occupied countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Those who remained alive were subjects to forced sterilisation as asocial units. Many Roma people from occupied Poland were placed in ghettos (along with Jewish people) but usually they lived in a separate area, often called the ‘Zigeunerlager’ (Gypsy camp). One of the largest ‘Gypsy camps’ was the one in the Łódź ghetto where in 1941 Germans placed over 5 thou. Of Roma and Sinti brought from Burgenland (the borderline between Austria and Hungary) on the area of less than 2 ha. As a result of diseases and emaciation a large number of the Roma died (about 600-700 of them are buried in the Jewish Cemetery in collective graves). The rest was moved to the extermination camp in Chełmno on the Ner

143 River (Kulmhof) where they were gassed. The Roma were also placed in other ghettos created by Germans, for example in Warsaw, Rzeszów or Przemyśl. Since March 1943 the Roma were brought to concentration camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau from many European countries, forming a special Zigeunerlager. Spreading diseases (mainly typhus) decimated the population of the camp. Inhumane medical experiments were carried out on many prisoners. During the night of 2/3 August 1944 the liquidation of the camp was conducted– 2897 people died in gas chambers in crematory V. The remaining prisoners, classified as capable of labour, were moved to other concentration camps (Smoleń, K. 1994; Talewicz – Kwiatkowska, J. 2011). In the documentation of the Gypsy camp 10094 names of men and 10849 women can be found (Parcer, J. – Grotum, T. 1994). The Roma people also died in other camps – for example: in Treblinka, Bełżec (where a special labour camp for the Roma was located since 1940), Majdanek, Sobiborz. However, the majority of Polish Roma people died in executions performed by Nazis. The events which took place in today’s brzeski poviat (małopolskie voivodship) can serve as an example: in July 1942 in Bielcza Nazis murdered 19 people (mainly women and children), also in the same month 29 Roma people were seized in a forest near Borzęcin Dolny and then shot. On 3rd July 1943 in Szczurowa 93 people were shot (in fact the whole Roma community of the town). Similar events took place in other areas, for example in Żabno. Nowadays the memory of those events is kept through taking care of places of both executions and burials of their victims. All of those places can be found on the trail of the International Gypsy Caravan of Remembrance (the first one took place in 1996) which starts in Tarnów and goes through the above mentioned places: Żabno, Bielcza, Borzęcin Górny to Szczurowa. In 2011 during the 12th Caravan a Monument of Roma Extermination Remembrance was unveiled in the forest near Borzęcin Dolny. Moreover, a special exhibition entitled Małopolski Trail of Roma

144 Martyrdom was prepared in the Regional Museum in Tarnów on the initiative of Adam Bartosz (see chapter about museums). The exhibition presents the commemorated places of Roma extermination in Poland. The crucial date in terms of Roma martyrdom commemoration was the year 1991 when an international scientific conference Sinti i Romowie w KL Auschwitz- Birkenau, zorganizowana przez Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau w Oświęcimiu (Sinti and Roma in KL Auschwitz-Birkenau organised by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum in Oświęcim) took place. 1993 was the year of the first commemorated anniversary of the liquidation of Gypsy camp in KL Auschwitz-Birkenau. Also a monument commemorating the extermination of Roma and Sinti was erected at the same place. It is an important location for the whole Roma community all over the world. In 1996 the representatives of 10 countries participated in the conference Zagłada-Pamięć-Nadzieja (Extermination-Memory-Hope) held in the International Youth Meeting Centre in Oświęcim/Auschwitz. One of the results of the session was the proclamation of the International Roma and Sinti Genocide Remembrance Day celebrated each year on 2nd August. Since then anniversary ceremonies are held yearly on this day. In 1998 an international conference was held discussing the matter of preparation of a permanent exhibition about Roma and Sinti genocide in the area of the former KL Auschwitz-Birkenau camp which was finally opened in 2001 in block no. 13 in the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum. The history of the Roma people, including their lot during World War II, is the study subject of the Roma History Institute acting as a part of the Roma Association in Poland seated in Oświęcim.

145 The Roma subject matter in Polish museums

The idea of commemorating the material heritage of Gypsy culture emerged in Europe at the end of 19th century. In Poland the subject appeared at the beginning of 20th century but it was not until the 70s when the realisation of the ideas started. The first attempt was the organisation of a small Gypsy section in the Sądecki Ethnographic Park in Nowy Sącz created in 1975. In 1978 first residential buildings were brought to the Park from Maszkowice near Łącko. The buildings were reconstructed in 1980. Another stimulus to the extension of the collection was the transport of a forge shop from Czarna Góra, Spis which opening started the presentation of other fully-equipped cabins and several farm buildings additionally. The exposition of the Gypsy section in this ethnographical museum may be treated as the first such attempt in Europe to protect the material heritage of the Roma culture in the open-air (Bartosz, Adam 1975, 1993; Kroh, M. 2008; Długosz, M. 2000; Długosz, E. - Długosz, M. 1981). In 1979 the Regional Museum In Tarnów organised the first exhibition in Poland devoted to Gypsy people- ‘Gypsies in Polish culture’. It was also the first exhibition devoted to national and ethnic minorities living in Poland. This huge exhibition, for the purpose of which exhibits from many different museums and other institutions as well as from private collections were hired, has started the idea of collecting material traces of the Roma culture. As a consequence, the Roma section was opened in the Tarnów museum, which in 1990 was transformed into the Ethnographical Museum as a department of the Regional Museum in Tarnów (Bartosz, Anna 1982; Bartosz, Adam 1998). Its director and, at the same time, creator of the collection – Adam Bartosz – is one of the head Polish and European specialists in the field of Gypsy studies. The integral parts of the exhibition are the carts by which the Gypsies used to travel Polish roads in caravans. Owing to the

146 financial support of governmental institutions as well as of the foundation, the copy of the permanent exhibition was created and is now presented in institutions, both in the country and abroad. The museum also publishes a scientific magazine Studia Romologica, devoted to the broadly-understood Roma subject matter, in which articles are published by Gypsy specialists from Poland and other European countries. Other museum which deserves to be noticed is the Regional Museum in Gorzów Wielkopolski which collects Gypsy costumes since 1977 (the collection has been started by the costumes given to the museum by the ‘Terno’ group). Another interesting museum is the Museum of Folk Architecture in Olsztynek where a Gypsy residential cart can be seen. The Roma Holocaust was documented by a large permanent exhibition in the State Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau (see the chapter about Roma genocide).

Pilgrimages as a sign of religiousness of the Roma people in Poland

The Roma usually accept the religion of the community they life in, as a result, the majority of Roma in Poland are Catholics. Pilgrimages organised to sanctuaries (especially Marian Sanctuaries) of Poland are a special sign of their religiousness. They are organised as colourful processions or even characteristic caravans which travel to places worshipped by believers. Since 1981 the Roma Pilgrimage to Jasna Góra – the biggest sanctuary in Poland – has been organised. The Roma come here to celebrate the day of Heavenly Mother the Immaculate (8th December). Additionally, in August 2004 the Great World Roma Pilgrimage with pilgrims from many European countries as well as from the USA came to Jasna Góra.

147 The Roma Pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Sorrows in Limanowa is said to be the biggest one. It starts in Łososina Górna and takes place around 15th September. It is joined by the Roma from Slovakia (Our Lady of Sorrows is the patron saint of Slovakia). Rychwałd in Kujawy is a special place where the figure of the Heavenly Mother is especially worshipped. According to historical sources, a Gypsy woman prayed before the figure for the health of her child around 1930. She cut off her plait and gave it to Saint Mary as a token of her gratitude. Since then the place has become a centre of worship for numerous Roma people in Poland and the figure itself has been called the Gypsy Heavenly Mother. In 1947 the biggest Roma pilgrimage took place here in which the Roma people thanked God for the salvation from the war. Also today, many representatives of this culture come here, mainly from northern parts of Poland (September). In June the Pilgrimage of the National and Ethnical Minorities takes place on Góra Świętej Anny (Saint Anna’s Hill) which is traditionally attended by Gypsies. Traditional prayers are translated into Romani and then used during liturgies attended by Roma. In this matter, the role of priest Stanisław Opocki, the national pastor of the Roma, is of significant meaning. Also the cult of the first Roma martyr from the period of the Spanish domestic war is fostered. His name was Zefiryn Jimenez Mall and he was beatified by the Pope John Paul II in 1997. Feretories showing his image are carried during the Roma pilgrimages.

Popularisation of Roma culture in media

In the times of system transformation in Poland (after 1989), intense attempts of the Roma to join the social and cultural life of the country can be noticed. They are favoured by the growing interest in Roma culture and community among non-

148 Gypsy people which is related to the specific hermetism of this community towards outside observers. More and more studies are published and the representatives of the Roma community can be seen in the media more often. The scientific interest in the Roma matters is also growing, not only in terms of social studies (concerning, for example, Polish- Roma relations), but also in relation to the studies of Roma people’s culture and identity. The Roma people are frequently associated in various organisations. One of the important results of their work are, undoubtedly, publications in the Romani language. The oldest Roma magazine in the Polish publishing market is the Rrom P-O Drom monthly, published by the Roma Head Board in Białystok. Since 1995, published by the Roma Association in Poland, Dialog-Pheniben has appeared, originally as a quarterly-, currently as a monthly journal. Romano Atmo is a bimonthly publication released since 2006 by the Polish Roma Association in Szczecinek. In the above-mentioned journals, the most significant matters and problems of the Roma community (both in the country and abroad) are concerned. Its articles concern the broadly understood Roma culture, including music, film and literature as well as present interviews with people important for this community. Some of the articles are translated into the Romani language. Also published are the Romani-written poems and prose. The publications are possible owing to the financial support of the governmental ‘Programme for the Roma community of Poland’. At the beginning of the system transformation, the presence of the regularly- broadcasted television programmes about national, ethnical and religious minorities can be noticed. In 1991 the TVP Kraków presented a programme entitled U siebie (‘At home’), showing the life and cultural achievement of the minorities living in Poland. In 2002 TVP Kraków started realisation of a bilingual television programme Informator Romski - Romano Ciacipe. In the same year, the

149 series of programmes ‘Etniczne klimaty’ (‘Ethnical atmosphere’) was revealed as a reference to the U siebie broadcast. Also other TVP regional departments produced programmes related to the Roma subject matter – for example ‘My Romowie’ (‘We Roma People’) in Białystok. In 2010 the Polish Roma Association aided by Telewizja Zachód (‘TV West’) in Szczecinek prepares a fifteen-minute long programme Romano Sveto presented once in a month. Additionally, Polskie Radio Koszalin (Polish Radio Koszalin) has broadcasted the Romano dźipen (Roma life) since 2005.

Summary

The cultural heritage deriving from the over-century presence of Roma people on Polish lands is represented by the easily-recognised colourful Gypsy folklore, i.e. music and dance. However, this culture also reveals other aspects, such as the developing fine arts. The prime of the Roma culture, possibly resulting in the integration of such a diverse community, will be even more probable after the development of the Romani spelling rules. Consequently, the Roma media (especially the press) could be more frequently created and range of activity could be broader. Currently, the most popular medium used by the Roma people are radio and television which is caused by illiteracy or limited ability of reading and writing. That is why education is such an important issue, especially for the young Roma generation. More and more young Roma graduate from universities and become specialists in various fields creating the Roma elite of new generation. They also become propagators of the Roma culture as well as set an example which can be followed by others. All those activities are not and cannot be performed without financial and scientific support of outside institutions or without an effort made by the

150 community itself. Even today there are numerous organisations associating the Roma communities and acting within them. Moreover, the cooperation among Roma organisations and institutions deriving from other countries is developing.

Bibliography

Bartosz, Anna (1982): Zaczątek kolekcji cyganologicznej. Lud, 66, 287-293. pp. Bartosz, A. (2000): Kolekcja cyganologiczna w Muzeum Etnograficznym w Tarnowie. In: Polska egzotyka w polskich muzeach. Materiały z konferencji. Tarnów 1-2 października 1998 r., Tarnów. Muzeum Okręgowe w Tarnowie. 199-202. pp. Bartosz, Adam (1975): Osada cygańska w Maszkowicach. Propozycja przeniesienia cygańskiej osady do skansenu w Nowym Sącz. Arkusze Muzealne Ziemi Krakowskiej, 1975, 54-50. pp. Bartosz, A. (1993): Polska egzotyka w polskich muzeach. Zamieszkałe w Polsce obce grupy etniczne i etnograficzne jako temat ekspozycji muzealnej. Śląskie Prace Etnograficzne, 2, 78-87.pp. Bartosz, A. (1998): Cyganie. Roma. Gypsies. Przewodnik po wystawie. Tarnów. Muzeum Etnograficzne, 61 p. Długosz, M. (2000): Cygańska ekspozycja w Sądeckim Parku Etnograficznym – dokumentacja. In: Polska egzotyka w polskich muzeach, Materiały z konferencji. Tarnów 1-2 października 1998 r., Tarnów. Muzeum Okręgowe w Tarnowie. 203-214. pp. Długosz, E. - Długosz M. (1981): Osada cygańska w Sądeckim Parku Etnograficznym. Acta Scansenologica, 2. 187-199. pp. Ficowski, J. (1953): Cyganie polscy. Szkice historyczno-obyczajowe. Warszawa. Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 263 p. Ficowski, J. (1986): Cyganie na polskich drogach, Kraków-Wrocław. Wydawnictwo Literackie, 428 p. Ficowski, J. (1989): Cyganie w Polsce. Dzieje i obyczaje. Warszawa. Interpress, 298 p. Fraser, A. (2001): Dzieje Cyganów. Warszawa, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 280 p. Karpalski, S. (2011): Wpływ doświadczenia zagłady na współczesne tożsamości romskie. In: Romowie w KL Auschwitz, Głosy Pamięci tom 7. Oświęcim. Międzynarodowe Centrum Edukacji o Auschwitz i Holokauście. 33-50. pp.

151 Kowarska, A. (2005): Polska Roma. Tradycja i nowoczesność. Warszawa, Instytut Etnologii i Antropologii Kulturowej Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, Wydawnictwo DiG, 244 p. Kroh, M. (2008): Sądecki Park Etnograficzny: przewodnik. Nowy Sącz, Muzeum Okręgowe, 59p. Nowicka, E. (2003): Romowie w Polsce. Tradycja i nowoczesność w oczach liderów. In: Romowie o sobie i dla siebie. Nowe problemy i nowe działania w pięciu krajach Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej. Ed.: Nowicka E., Warszawa. Instytut Socjologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego. 29-59. pp. Paleczny, T. (2003): Socjologiczne refleksje na temat polskich Romów. Oświęcim, Stowarzyszenie Romów w Polsce. Romski Instytut Historyczny, 70 p. Parcer, J. - Grotum, T. (1994): Analiza zachowanych dokumentów. In: Los Cyganów w KL Auschwitz-Birkenau. Ed. Parcer J., Oświęcim. Stowarzyszenie Romów w Polsce. 176-227. pp. Soja, M. (2005): Gypsies/Romani – European non-territorial national minority. In : The role of borderlands in United Europe. Historical, Ethnic and Geopolitical Problems of Borderlands, Region and Regionalism. Ed. Koter M. - Heffner K., No. 7, vol. 2. Łódź–Opole: University of Łódź, Department of Political Geography and Regional Studies, Governmental Research Institute, Silesian Institute in Opole, Silesian Institute Society. Smoleń, K. (1994): Cyganie w KL Auschwitz-Birkenau, In: Los Cyganów w KL Auschwitz-Birkenau. Ed. Parcer J., Oświęcim. Stowarzyszenie Romów w Polsce. 84-175. pp. Szuchta, R. - Trojański, P. (2006): Holokaust. Zrozumieć dlaczego. Warszawa. Oficyna Wydawnicza Mówią Wieki, 310 p. Talewicz-Kwiatkowska, J. (2011): Romowie i Sinti w KL Auschwitz, In: Romowie w KL Auschwitz, Głosy Pamięci tom 7. Oświęcim. Międzynarodowe Centrum Edukacji o Auschwitz i Holokauście. 13-31. pp.

152 Kinga Szabó-Tóth50

THE CONSTRUCTION OF ETHNIC IDENTITY OF SUCCESSFUL GYPSIES/TRAVELLERS IN ENGLAND

Introduction

The paper is about the question of Gypsy/Traveller identity, a question that has been intensively debated by various authors. These studies cover many diverse issues such as the process of identity construction, the possibilities of identity concealment and the differences in self-description between ethnic groups. Bearing in mind what different authors had written on this topic, the main objective of this investigation is to understand the theory of ethnicity, identity and assimilation/acculturation, through the opinions and experiences of Gypsies/Travellers themselves and to develop a further understanding of the identity construction process among the target population by the application of qualitative investigation. The analysis will be focused on a particular group of people from the Gypsy/Traveller population of England, namely those who are more ’successful’ than the average from the Gypsy/Traveller group either in terms of their career or in their education. Their situation can be described as a sort of minority elite position. As they are in daily contact with people of mainstream society, they get to know the cultural values and norms of the majority culture. The research about their ethnic identity is justified by the fact that they are in key situation: they can either put aside their ethnicity and pass as non-Gypsy, or they can express it, and therefore, assist in the demolition of stereotypes about their ethnic group. The pre- assumption of the study is that, as a result of acculturation, the target group may

50 PhD, associate professor, head of institute, University of Miskolc, Institute of Sociology; e-mail: [email protected]

153 have a double binging identity in order to accommodate their life to the majority society and also maintain their ethnic identity. By conducting qualitative interviews with 22 persons, we try to examine questions such as (1) under what kind of circumstances is it important for them to hide or reveal their ethnicity; (2) are they balancing cultures, or in other words can they be described as bi-cultured persons. The sampling frame consists of two types of interviewees: people in professional occupations or university students and political leaders/activist. We can also pose the question therefore whether there is a crucial difference regarding the research questions between the two groups In the first part of the paper the theoretical framework of the research will be provided with special regard to the definitions applied in the study.

Theoretical background

Who are the Gypsies/Travellers?

Kenrick and Clark (2001) include the Traveller population under the term 'Gypsy'. They divide the Gypsy /Traveller population in Britain into 5 main groups namely the Romany chals, the Kale, the Roma, the Irish Travellers and the Scottish Travellers. Some authors (Oakley, J. 1997; Acton, T. - Mundy, G. 1997) suggest the use of the term Gypsy/Traveller when they refer to Gypsies, highlighting the fact that these alternative terms are substitutes. During the research, we will also apply the term Gypsy /Travellers to the five groups, suggested by Kenrick and Clark. The reason for that is the fact that there are some Roma leaders and university students in Britain who came originally from Eastern Europe. So, using this terminology, they can be included in the research, because the term 'Roma' refers to those who came from that part of

154 Europe. Besides, we have to take into account the fact that the aim of the study is to explore whether the 'successful' members of this ethnic community can maintain their ethnic identity while participating in the life of mainstream society and to what extent. For this purpose, the emphasis in not on the investigation of different cultural patterns of different Gypsy/Traveller groups but on how they construct their identity, what the components of it are in terms of minority and majority values, norms and behaviour. From this point of view, the fact that someone is in the group of professionals or from the group of leaders and activists has more relevance than the fact that they are the members of different Gypsy/Traveller groups. Therefore the distinction will be made between these two groups, assuming that leaders and activists can, perhaps, preserve more elements from their ethnic group than the others, because their status as people from an ethnic group is more salient due to their position. In other words, they expose their ethnic identity on a daily basis, whereas people from the professional group do not necessarily do so. New Age Travellers will not be included in the study, as they cannot be considered as members of the Gypsy/Traveller ethnic group. By using this approach, we are committed to regarding this ethnic community as people with a distinctive history, culture and oral literature. The nomadic way of life is not considered to be sufficient for group membership, a fact which excludes New Age Travellers.

The concept of 'successful'

Applying the category 'successful' we will refer to those Gypsies/Travellers who have achieved more than 'the norm' for this ethnic group in terms of education or career (social position). As indicated by Bourdieu (1974) cited by Fine (2001), the owners of social or symbolic capital have resources based on connections and

155 group membership, which implies prestige and honour. The possessors of the cultural capital (which has three broad forms namely embodied, objectified or institutionalised) can be regarded as persons who are educated or who came from a family with a rich cultural heritage. The interviewees in the investigation can be divided into two groups: in one group, there are some university students, people with degree level qualification and people in professional occupation (in the terms of Bourdieu, 1974, they are the owners of cultural capital) and the second group is based on political leaders or Gypsy/Traveller activists, who have social or symbolic capital. The common feature of the people from both groups is that they are, in some sense, in 'elite' position in their community. They are marked out to an extent from the Gypsy/Traveller community (though this does not mean that they ace 'better' than the others), because they have chosen the Gorgio (non-Gypsy) way of success. Consequently as one of the interviewees stated, they do not meet the criteria of success among Gypsies/Travellers51: "…whereas in Gorgio society, your status is based upon how successful you are in a particular profession... .Gypsy traditional culture is materialistic, it's based probably on how big your car is, or how much gold you 've got on your fingers, that's their term of success. .. .So, I mean, the fact that I'm a writer, is not impressive to Gypsies."(Male, 29-year old) By way of introduction, we can take cognisance of the fact that the phenomenon of meeting the mainstream society’s requirements of 'success' rather than those of their community can be recognised as some sign of assimilation or at least acculturation in their life. Nevertheless the aim of this study is to explore more elements that point in the direction of acculturation or assimilation well as to show some examples for successful walk of life.

51 Silvermann (1988) also argues that Gypsy culture is materialistic, and based on the quality and quantity of dresses, houses, jewells, and cars.

156 The idea of identity and ethnic identity

Castell (1997) refers to the construction of identity as both an internalisation and a mutual process. In his definition of identity, Turner (1975) emphasises the importance of the individual's own decision about belonging to a specific group and also the significance of sharing its values. Based on the above approaches, it is evident that one has to accept certain norms and values in order to gain full membership in a group. Nevertheless one also has to be recognised as person with a particular ethnic inheritance by other members of the community one claims to belong to. In this research, Turner's definition will be applied to identity. The problem of identification by other Gypsies/Travellers as a person from their group will be solved by the sampling strategy applied. Asking other persons for the name of potential interviewees implies the confirmation of the interviewees’ Gypsy/Traveller status by these persons. Nevertheless, a potential interviewee has to "accept" his/her Gypsy/Traveller ethnicity or otherwise we cannot consider him/her an appropriate person for the purpose of the enquiry. Turner (1975) argues that ethnic identity is a sort of social identity, and is, therefore related to group membership. This opinion is also held by Bindorffer (1999), who claims that "ethnic identity is a subjective feeling of belonging to a special self-perceived group of people who share in a common stock of ethnic knowledge." Although we will utilise her definition of ethnic identity, we have to take into account the fact that, due to the sampling strategy, the interviewees are also recognised as Gypsies/Travellers by other members of the group, as indicated above. To sum up, we have to consider identity / ethnic identity as a phenomenon that manifests itself both at the level of values and norms and also at the level of behaviour. Therefore, we have to investigate whether there is some evidence of the target population's attachment to their original ethnic group as well as to the

157 majority and at which level. In addition, we have to take into account the fact that, although being part of an ethnic group is a subjective feeling, (Bindorffer, Gy. 1999; Turner, C. V. 1975) it also presupposes confirmation by other members of a group (Castell, M. 1997).

The concept of hidden identity

As Hancock reveals (1997) one can hide one's Gypsy/Traveller identity without difficulty, as Gypsies/Travellers do not have such easy to recognisable physical characteristics. As Okely (1997) argues, while sometimes Gypsies/Travellers seemingly drop their ethnicity by passing as non- Romanies this behaviour does not decrease their Gypsy/Traveller identity, but is just a strategy to survive. Silvermann (1988) describes a similar phenomenon amongst Gypsies in the USA. As she highlights in her research, Gypsies in that country change their dress, language and name in order to adapt to new environments. Although they seem to be assimilated, they keep themselves distinct. As she concludes: "they are no less "Gypsy" because they are also "American"; their multiple identities do not necessarily compete with one another, but serve to stimulate the creation of a rich store of express behaviour." In another study of Gypsies in the USA, Sutherland (1975) cited by Okely (1999), reveals the same trend. He suggests that, although Gypsies remain invisible to the public and even seemingly abandon nomadism, they do not relinquish their original lifestyle but try to preserve some elements of it. To conclude, research studies highlight the fact that the phenomenon of identity hiding must be handled carefully because, behind this behaviour, the original identity can be preserved totally. Therefore the question that we have to investigate in this study is what kind of motivations lie behind the incident of

158 hidden identity. On one hand, the cause of this phenomenon can simply be the wish to pass as non-Gypsies in order to survive without the slightest abandonment of one's original culture. On the other hand, one might display some willingness to accommodate one's life to the changing environment, which implies accepting some values and norms of the mainstream society. The question in the latter case is to what extent people, while exposing themselves to the influence of the majority can retain their original method of thinking, values and norms and to what extent do the majority values filter into their personality and remodel it (Oakley, J. 1997; Hancock, I. 1997; Silvermann, C. 1988).

Double-binding identity, assimilation and acculturation

As already mentioned, due to the process of acculturation, 'successful' Gypsies/Travellers may have a double-binding identity - sometimes referred to as bi-culturalism. Therefore the explanation of the concept of a double-binding identity has to start with the clarification of the idea of acculturation as well as assimilation (assimilation can be regarded as an extreme case of acculturation, in which the culture of the mainstream society entirely dominates the original culture). Assimilation and acculturation are extensively debated by researchers dealing with the issues of the ethnic group and ethnicity. To summarize the literature on this topic, it is clear that assimilation can be regarded in three different ways: (a) as an abandonment of one's original culture in favour of another one (Rose, A. M. 1956; Gordon, M. 1964; Kende, A. - Szilassy, E. 1999; Korzenny, F. 1998; Horowitz, D. L. 1975); (b) as a mutual process involving the merging of two cultures and forming of a common one (Horowitz, D. L. 1975); (c) as a process that ends in the change of values and norms of an individual. Acculturation can be defined in two different ways: (a) as a process of learning a

159 second culture, while maintaining the elements of the original one (Korzenny, F. 1998; Benez-Martinez, M. 1997) or (b) as a process that ends in the change at the level of an individual's behaviour but not at the level of his/her norms and values. In the current study, we will apply Korzenny's definition of acculturation and assimilation. Korzenny's approach (1998) carefully distinguishes between the two; highlighting the fact that acculturation in extreme cases might end in assimilation. According to him, "acculturation is considered to be a process of learning a second culture. In contrast, assimilation is understood to be an abandonment of one's first culture in favour of a second one." As indicated by the definition, acculturation can occur without assimilation. In the study an investigation will be made into whether the procedure of learning a second culture results in the relinquishment of one's original one (assimilation) or in a double-binding identity. It is also important to determine whether the changes take place at the level of behaviour or at the level of values and norms in one's personality, as well as the strategies of self-identification. The assumption is that, due to their situation, the 'professional' Gypsies/Travellers are more likely to have a dissociative strategy (as indicated by Hutnik 1997)52 than Gypsy /Traveller professionals. In other words the chance to have a double-binding identity and an assimilative, acculturative or marginal strategy is higher for the Gypsy /Traveller professionals than for the first group. The reasoning behind this presumption is that, those who are in professional occupations or studying for postgraduate diplomas may hide their ethnicity and might find it difficult to take on. In extreme cases they probably do not want to or are even ashamed to have a Gypsy /Traveller heritage, because it is not necessarily appealing in the eyes of mainstream society. On the other hand those, who are

52 The concept of different strategies was developed by Hutnik (cited by Modood, 1997). He established four different strategies, depending on the level of assimilation. Assimilative strategy is on one end of the scale and dissociative just the opposite, where self-categorisation is in terms of ethnic minority membership and not in terms of majority group dimension in the other one. In the acculturative strategy, the self is categorised approximately equally in terms of both dimensions. In extreme case, neither of the dimensions are important and the person may categorise himself in terms of other relevant social categories (marginal strategy).

160 founders of different Gypsy /Traveller organisations, obviously made a decision to settle themselves in their ethnic background completely by joining or founding an organisation for their own ethnic minority. Finally having reviewed the literature on assimilation and acculturation, one concept remains to be defined: double-binding identity or bi-culturalism. This idea refers to a phenomenon where someone is exposed to two cultures (Benez- Martinez, M. 1997 refers to this phenomenon as ’balancing cultures’).

Discussion

Hiding or revealing ethnic identity

In this part of the discussion we will try to find an answer to two research questions: Under what kind of circumstances it is important for the target group to hide their ethnicity and if they reveal it for what reason and how? If there is some evidence of identity hiding, it confirms my ontological view that we have to regard identity as a social construction and, depending on the circumstances and the actors of a situation, some of the elements of the identity might be more important than others. Based on the interview material, it is clear that the respondents can hide their Gypsiness if they want to. This is partly because they do not have dark skin, so they do not fit the widespread stereotype of what makes someone a 'proper' Gypsy /Traveller. In the case of two Gypsy men from Eastern Europe, whose skin was dark, 'passing' as non-Gypsy was not problematic (one of them was described as a member of Taliban by outsiders). As a matter of fact, they do not have to make any effort in order to be non-Gypsy, because their identity is completely hidden by the fact that it has no exotic external manifestation. In this sense they do not have to use different strategies to keep it

161 secret like using a different language, dressing like non-Gypsies, wearing make-up in order to make their skin lighter, as it was discussed by Silverman (1988). As one of the interviewees emphasised: "No I don't think it would be apparent. I don't have a costume or an exotic accent anything like that." (Male, 40-year old) Another person referred to the fact that the exposure of ethnic identity is a private matter that does not automatically come up in every conversation: "I think it's private it's private information, also because of people can't tell it by necessarily looking at you and we don't speak any differently to other people." (Female, aged 35) In the literature on Gypsy/Traveller identity, ethnicity is always shown as something that someone has to get rid of in order to be 'successful' or not to be discriminated against. Although there is considerable evidence from the interviews that identity hiding is unavoidable as the only possible protection against discriminatory actions, there are some signs of people using ethnic identity as a 'gift' in order to be positively handled. As one of the interviewees from the Gypsy/Traveller professional group revealed using identity for your own benefit is a matter of approach. "It's [Gypsiness] Iike everything in life; it's how you approach it. It can be a stick that people beat you, or it can be a stick that you use to make yourself stronger." (Male, aged 40) When asked in what circumstances one can make use of being a Gypsy /Traveller three of the interviewees reported some events in their life when they were able to take advantages of being what they are. All of the events were in connection with their work. As a writer argued: "In this country, a lot of people are very politically correct. They realised that writing is largely a white -I mean, I am white - but middle class, privileged

162 occupation. I think it is in most countries. But they very, they feel guilty about that. So they do and they say 'Right we must have some Black writers and Jewish writers', but they never say 'We must have some Gypsy writers "because it has never occurred to them. So if I try to get a book published, I say 'Come on you are not giving me a chance, you are excluding me, because I am a Gypsy'. They say, 'Oh, sorry, so that's the way. So you can use it to your advantage, of course you can. But there are lots of people who do it." (Male, aged 29) Another person, who is an artist, stated that sometimes stereotypes of Gypsies/Travellers can be beneficial for the people they relate to. Regarding Gypsies/Travellers not just as 'vagabonds' but also as people with exotic characteristics can make it easier for them to reveal identity. In the words of the interviewee: "I think, let's say, in intellectual circles or artistic circles, it can be seen as an advantage, firstly because it can be seen to be exotic. And also because for instance, it can be seen to meet certain equal opportunities criteria. That means like, a for instance, two friends of mine, and me, we were working on a project together; we went to London Art's Board for some money and we told them it was about a Gypsy thing and I was Gypsy, and that made them more interested.” (Male, 40-year old) 'Having some Gypsy blood' can also be an advantage if someone's job is related to Gypsy issues, e.g.: doing research about this community. It can be done more easily by Gypsy/Traveller researchers, because, - as one of the respondents claimed - "Gypsies are very suspicious people". At the other end of the spectrum, there is some evidence from the interview material that the hiding of identity can occur in some circumstances because of the fear of discrimination or because of stereotypes.

163 Fears and experiences of discrimination have two different outcomes. A person can become stronger through them by undertaking his/her Gypsiness or, more often, it can end in identity hiding, sometimes directly, and sometimes through the feelings of shame. In this connection it was also confirmed by Csepeli et al. (2001) that experiences of discrimination due to the membership in one particular group, can have the outcome of a person passing on to another group in order to get a positive self-image. The next quotation came from a woman, whose experiences of discrimination in childhood resulted in a proud commitment to her Gypsy /Traveller roots: "I suppose, when you have those sort of experiences [of discrimination], it pushes you more to being Gypsy. If I am pushed, I will fight my corner, so I am more Gypsy than non- Gypsy. It can intimidate you, or it can make you like me; it made me stand up and fight my corner."(Female, 54-year old) Another example gives an illustration of the prevention of discrimination and prejudice by a person revealing their Gypsiness: "...I think nowadays I'm more likely to just say, I work with Roma, because I'm Romany, because I want to change the situation of Roma, starting with what my family has gone through, ...and then what happens if the person is really prejudiced, then they won't say, what they were going to say..." (Female, aged 24) The quotation below provides an example of hidden identity as a result of fears and experiences of discriminatory actions. As a male from the Gypsy /Traveller professional group explains, in order to get a job it might be worthwhile not to reveal someone's ethnicity (these kinds of fears had occurred in relation to job finding in all cases): "I do not have any problem with my background or ethnicity but, at times, I might not have mentioned it in the past; for example if I went for a job I would not tell them or, if I meet people for the first time, I would not tell them. But if people

164 get to know you first they realise that you are just a human being like them. But I suppose, strategically, sometimes in the past, I have not mentioned it. For example, I don't think I have even mentioned it going for work, except work with travellers. But all the work, I have been to, I cannot tell them that all the blanks in my background are due to my travelling. I just tell them I was unemployed." (Male, aged 45) As is evident from the quotation in the respondent's view, being unemployed is less stigmatising than Gypsiness. The interview material suggests another meaning of hidden identity. This concept cannot just refer to the willingness of passing as a non-Gypsy, but also to the fact that sometimes Gypsies/Traveller are not recognised as someone from this ethnic group by outsiders, so that their ethnicity is invisible. As Hancock pointed out (1976), due to the stereotypes, the real nature of Gypsiness can be hidden from the majority, so 'real' Gypsies are usually not regarded as genuine. Actually Gypsies can pass easily as non-Gypsies, because they do not meet the requirements of what they should look like. Here the identity of actual Gypsies/Travellers is hidden by being invisible to mainstream society which holds a false image of them. Hidden identity as the result of the existence of stereotypes in the society, was reported by several interviewees, is perhaps, particularly evident from the following statement from a female, in a professional occupation: "But I think that was probably because of stereotyping within the media. If you are being told on the one hand, that being Gypsy is a bad thing, or on the other hand, they are a romantic idol with a free spirit, neither of which are real, then that can lead to the Gypsy feeling invisible in the general community and it is easy to pretend, not to be someone else, but to put that Gypsy identity aside and have another identity as well." (Female, aged 35)

165 In conclusion, in the words of the title of Heller's famous book, Gypsy/Traveller professionals seem to be in a "catch 22" situation. Due to the stereotypes and prejudices that are flourishing about them in mainstream society, they find it almost impossible to reveal their ethnicity in certain situations (sometimes if they are businessmen or have a high position, the fear that they can lose the trust of their partners by exposing their ethnicity leads them to fit into their environment), because they do not want to experience the awkwardness of being looked down on and discriminated against (Kwiek, G. 1998). Consequently, their success remains hidden from the majority. Sometimes the 'fear of being put into one box' can even result in rejection of one's Gypsiness. As one girl with a degree level qualification, who on the way to getting a PhD reported: "... even though I 'm very individual person, and unique, they're generalising me to what they think a Gypsy is supposed to be, and so that's not so much ashamed, but I think in sort of moments of despair, I don't want to be Romany anymore..." (Female, aged 24) However the process does not stop at that point. Due to the fact that Gypsy/Traveller professionals are almost hidden from majority society, the stereotypes such as the assumption that Gypsies cannot be educated and cannot be professionals are getting confirmed because it is not obvious for the majority what Gypsies/Travellers can achieve. Unfortunately, there is a tendency for Gypsy/Traveller professionals once they have their new lifestyle not to want to be identified with their ethnicity. Indeed this was the main reason, why it was so difficult to find them for the research. Some of them can find their Gypsy /Traveller identity again after the process of identity-denial, but some, after becoming professionals, are lost for the Gypsy/Traveller community forever. Therefore, perhaps, Gypsy/Traveller professionals themselves unwittingly assist in the process of confirmation of stereotypes. This fact does not mean that they are to

166 blame for the stereotypes. In fact, the majority in the confirmation of stereotypes play their part also by establishing situations in which it is better for Gypsies/Travellers to put their real ethnic identity aside. Having regard to the other group of Gypsies/Travellers in the study, the activists and political leaders, it can be seen that, although they can hide their ethnicity, there is no need to do so in their daily life. Explaining their situation in a slightly ironical way, we could say that exposing their identity costs them nothing, because they make a living from it; they are well-known as Gypsies/Travellers not just to their own group, but to the majority, as they are the representative of the group. Thus their status as Gypsies/Travellers is legitimised by their activities. On the other hand, reconciling one's Gypsiness with one's status as a professional is beset with difficulties.

Balancing cultures

As it was discussed previously, the main assumption of the study is that 'successful' Gypsies/Travellers might have a double identity as a result of acculturation. Making further distinction between the two groups of the interviewees regarding self- identification strategies (suggested by Hutnik, 1997), the interviewees from the 'professional' Gypsy /Traveller group are more likely to preserve more elements of their original way of life and ethnic heritage than people from the group of professionals and the probability to have a dissociative strategy in their group is higher. In this part of the discussion we will investigate also if this statement is established or not. Having regard to the self-identification of the target group, it is clear that there are no signs of total assimilation among the interviewees. (However we have to take into account that the method of sampling precludes this type of identification.

167 The selection criteria were (1) to be recognised as Gypsy/Traveller by other members of this ethnic group and (2) it also has to be confirmed by the interviewees themselves. Therefore those persons who completely abandoned their ethnic culture were excluded from the investigation.) However the way of their self-identification varies a lot by the differences in the proportion of the elements from the two cultures. Although being involved in this study requires a basic identification with someone's ethnic heritage, there is some evidence in the case of some interviewees of being entirely ’sniffed up' by the mainstream society. It has various reasons. First it can be the result of having been entirely isolated from the ethnic roots in their childhood due to the conscious decision of their parents, who did not want their children to be recognised as Gypsy /Traveller. This kind of experience was mainly discovered in the life of some Gypsy /Traveller professionals. Second it is also due to the fact of coming from a family with mixed parents, in which the values, norms and habits of the Gorgio spouse dominated entirely the family life. Nevertheless we have to bear in mind one of the main findings of the study that to be a child of mixed parents does not necessarily mean the rupture of one's ethnic culture. The behaviour of the parent of Gypsy/Traveller origin has an extremely important influence on the child’s commitment to the minority community. Third reason behind this behaviour is having a completely different life-style with different priorities through education. Giving an example of this: "Sometimes I feel like I have lost my Gypsy culture and feel like an ethnic orphan." (Male, aged 40) It seems like the assumption that education might have an effect on the abandonment of someone's ethnic roots, is confirmed.

168 This quotation above leads us to another key finding of the research. Those who are in the Gypsy/Traveller professional group reported some evidence of emotional disturbance, arising from the difficulties in defying themselves due to their estrangement from their ethnic roots. Csepeli et al. (2001) also pointed out based on their research among 'successful' Gypsies in Hungary that the new lifestyle of the interviewees can result in some difficulties in terms of identification. Some of the respondents of the current study try to bridge the problems originated from their special identity by regarding their unique position as an educated Gypsy/Traveller person as something that can help them to have a different view of the world. As one of the persons with professional occupation highlighted: "…through the experience I have had it allows me to look at my Gypsy identity in a more objective way but I do feel slightly an outsider but then I think that allows me to see more… I think I have a different perspective compared to my family, it's not better it is just different. When I moved away and was being educated I felt I have betrayed them in a way, but I don't feel that now. Over the last six years or so, I have examined my Gypsy identity ...and that has been very good for me, it had allowed me to examine part of myself which I had buried." (Male, aged 40) This kind of 'reconnection with Gypsiness' and being a 'born-again Gypsy' in adulthood is quite common among the Gypsy/Traveller professional group. Nevertheless we cannot draw far-reaching conclusion about this phenomenon due to the fact that the interviewees of the study are connected to their ethnic culture to a certain extent due to the sampling strategy and the definition of ethnic identity. On the other end of the spectrum, some of the interviewees expressed a negative attitude towards mainstream values and norms. Their strategy of self- identification can be described as dissociative, with the accentuation of ethnic

169 minority roots and is more common among the members of Gypsy/Traveller activists and political leaders than among the members of the other group.

Conclusion

Based on the interview material it was found that the assumption of double- binding identity is sound. And as it was also expected, it is especially so among the Gypsy/Traveller professionals. Suggested by the findings of the study, their double-binding identity can be explained by the achieved social position of the members of Gypsy /Traveller professionals, which sometimes is not compatible with their Gypsiness. The lack of compatibility manifests itself through the difficulties of leading travelling lifestyle, being self-employed, organising themselves in a Gypsy /Traveller way with a flexible handling of time. However the interview material also suggests that the interviewees try to employ some strategies in order to preserve 'the umbilical cord' with their ethnic roots such as choosing freelance job, instead of travelling for work they are travelling to research their identity. The current study seems to confirm Silvermann (1988)'s findings to the effect that the target group use the non-Gypsy culture as „a rich storehouse" from which they can adapt elements to their life in order to survive. She also points out that, in spite of adaptation to the mainstream society, they strictly protect the boundaries of their ethnic group through an expression of a distinct identity, the forbiddance of intermarriage with outsiders, the maintenance of their language, the adherence to kinship and organisation within their community. This is the issue where the interviewees of the current study, especially those of the Gypsy/Traveller professionals group deviate from Gypsies described by Silvermann. During the analysis of the collected material it became clear that although at the level of self-description the interviewees expressed a

170 tight commitment to their ethnic roots, at the level of behaviour, norms and values their loyality was not so apparent e.g.: wide-spread intermarriage with outsiders, rupture from the Gypsy/Traveller materialistic culture, different priorities from those of their community. These findings allow us to conclude that the interviewees slightly move towards assimilation, especially Gypsy/Traveller professionals. In the group of Gypsy/Traveller leaders and activists, a more intensive resistance was observable against the 'temptation' of the mainstream society, moreover in some cases, the rejection of its norms and values were apparent. Nevertheless, the conclusion would not be complete without the remark that the accommodation of the life of professionals to the majority culture is sometimes beset with problems. We could even say that the process of balancing culture is often accompanied by the feeling of imbalance, as one of them formulated: "…I became a slave in some way to a system, which I do not really belong to. And to values I do not really believe in." (Male, aged 41)

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172

DEVELOPMENT POOSIBILITIES OF THE PERIPHERIES

173 174 Ernő Molnár53

THE REGIONAL ECONOMIC BACKGROUND OF THE ROMA EMPLOYMENT IN NORTHEASTERN HUNGARY AFTER THE TURN OF THE MILLENIUM

Introducing problem in question

Underemployment is one of the most important problems of the Hungarian economy after the change of regime. During the transformation crise, at the beginning of the 1990s, more than 1 million workplaces had been lost in Hungary which couldn’t be compensated by new workplaces in the period of the economic growth later. The relatively high inactivity and unemployment rate remained characteristic feature of the Hungarian economy (OFK, 2005). In addition to, this employment crise seems to be deeper than in the other Visegrad countries: according to the data of the Eurostat, the employment rate (aged 15-64) was in 2009 65,4% in the Czech Republic, 60,2% in Slovakia, 59,3% in Poland, but only 55,4% in Hungary. Hungary has one of the lowest employment rate within the European Union. The Hungarian Roma minority is especially affected by the employment crise. The relatively high employment level of Roma people, typical for the period of the Kádár regime, had already between 1984 and 1989 slightly fallen. After that, in the time of the change of regime – between 1989 and 1993 – the decline of Roma employment was extraordinary rapid. Due to this process, the employment rate of the Roma population (aged 15-49) fell from about 80% to approximately 30%, which means that the difference between the employment rate of the total population and the employment rate of the Roma minority had become

53 Phd, assistant professor, University of Debrecen, Department of Social Geography and Regional Development Planning; e-mail: [email protected]

175 significantly bigger. Since that time, the low activity rate of Roma people – combined with an extreme high employment fluctuation rate – seems to remain stable (Kertesi, G. 2005). The process has – according to the results of the earlier researches – a multiple background: after an era, when it was a political goal to employ all employees, under the conditions of employment crise, the undergraduation of the Roma people and their discrimination played very important role in their worsening position on the labour market (Kertesi, G. 2000, 2005). The change both of sectoral and spatial structure of the economy was negative from the point of view of the Roma employment. With the decline of (heavy) industries, construction and agriculture in the 1990s – where the share of Roma employees was overrepresented – the Roma population lost second time its economic background during the 20th century. The employment of Roma minority is also negatively influenced by the so-called „negative spatial effect” which means that the Roma population lives mostly in those regions where the economic situation is worse than the average. They have therefore generally less chance to have a job than the majority of the population (Kertesi, G. 2000, 2005; Dupcsik, Cs. 2009). A significant part of the Hungarian Roma population lives in the counties of Northeastern Hungary (Dupcsik, Cs. 2009; Pásztor, I. 2011). The key idea of this article is the assumption that the employment of the Roma population is inseparable from the regional economic background, which influences the extension and structure of the demand on workforce. The article focuses on the examination of the large-scale sectoral and spatial structure of the regional economy. Its goal is the mapping of the tendencies during the decade after the turn of the millenium as well as the answering the question: which potential effects of these structural changes have on the employment chances of the Roma population. The examination is based mostly on county- and microregion-level employment

176 data, which are collected from the databases of CSO Hungary as well as National Tax and Customs Administration. I used also county- and microregion-level total and Roma population data, based on the census 2001 and the collection of István Pásztor 2010-2011 (look at Pásztor, I. Z.– Pénzes, J. 2012 in this band).

Sectoral structure of the economy in Northeastern Hungary

Northeastern Hungary includes 33% of the area and 27% of the population of Hungary. This is the most underdeveloped part of the country: the GDP per capita values of its counties were – during the last decade – between 45 and 75% of the national average. On the other hand, the employment rates of its counties remained also spectacularly below the national average. Northeastern Hungary consists of two different and also innerly heterogenous regions (Figure 1). One of them is the former industrial axle of Northern Hungary (with Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén /1/, Heves /2/ and Nógrád /3/ counties): a depression area in its centre with the industrial agglomerations of Sajó valley (Miskolc-Ózd) and Salgótarján underlying a deindustrialization process and the structural crises of heavy industry. The second is the more agriculture-oriented North Great Plain Region (with Hajdú- Bihar /4/, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok /5/ and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg /6/ counties) which was deeply influenced by the crises of the agriculture and the labour- intensive light industry (Kiss, É. 2010; Molnár, E. 2011; Pénzes J. 2011). The change of employment structure – with the crise and decline of traditional economic activities – continued also after the turn of the millenium: the tertierization went further, while the agriculture and the industry lost his weight in this decade. But – as a consequence of the former economic structure – we could see that the industry is also now overrepresented in the employment structure of

177 the „highland counties” (especially in Heves and Nógrád) while the role of the agriculture is relatively bigger in the „lowland counties” (Table 1). A deeper examination shows that some traditional economic activities – such mining, metal industry, energy and water supply in „highland counties” as well as agriculture, food and light industry in the „lowland counties” – despite of the significant job losses, are also nowadays overrepresented in the regional employment structure. („Overrepresented” means that the weight of these sectors in the regional employment structure is bigger than the national average: the location quotients are above 1,00.) Besides the traditional sectors play mostly certain industrial activities a role above the national average.

Figure 1: The two regions of Northeastern Hungary; source: own compilation

178 Table 1: Changing economic structure in the counties of Northeastern Hungary between 2000 and 2010 (%); source: own compilation, based on the employment data of CSO Hungary 2000 2010 Agriculture Industry Services Agriculture Industry Services Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén 5,1 34,8 60,1 3,7 34,2 62,0 Heves 5,5 41,6 52,9 4,6 38,6 56,8 Nógrád 4,8 44,6 50,6 3,6 42,2 54,2 Hajdú-Bihar 9,7 32,1 58,2 7,5 27,4 65,1 Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok 8,9 36,9 54,2 7,1 32,0 60,9 Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg 7,2 33,2 59,6 6,3 32,8 60,9 Hungary total 6,6 33,9 59,5 4,5 30,8 64,7

Electronic industry, production of electrical and transport equipment, pharmaceuticals, rubber and plastics products are dynamic sectors with growing employment in different counties. In the era of tertierization the social work activities are the only service sector overrepresented in the employment structure of the region. I think, it shows clearly the unhealthy economic and social situation of Northeastern Hungary. The only odd county out is Hajdú-Bihar where the education – because of the strong high education profile of Debrecen – is a significant sector (Table 2). But which effects of these structural changes on the employment situation of Roma people could be mentioned? According to the Table 3 – showing the economic sectors with the largest job losses and employment growth in the last decade – it is clear that the sectoral structural change has negative effect on the Roma employment. The declining sectors play more important role in the Roma employment than in the employment of the total population (the data of total and Roma employment structure are from the database of census 2001). On the other hand, the growing (tertiary) activities establish workplaces first of all not for Roma people. This structural change could mean presumably a challenge for many Roma people who managed to remain active on the labour market in the last two decades (Table 3).

179 Table 2: Overrepresented economic sectors in the employment structure of Northeastern Hungary, based on location quotient data (2010); source: own compilation, based on the data of CSO Hungary; Counties Economic activities (location quotient) Mining and quarrying (1,95); manufacture of chemical products (7,18); manufacture of basic metals and fabricated metal products (1,65); Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products (2,61); social work activities (2,29); Manufacture of basic metals and fabricated metal products (1,83); energy and water supply (2,52); manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products Heves (2,61); manufacture of electrical equipment (2,00); social work activities (1,57); Manufacture of basic metals and fabricated metal products (1,88); Nógrád manufacture of electrical equipment (3,16); manufacture of transport equipment (1,50); other manufacturing (1,67); social work activities (1,86); Agriculture (2,25); manufacture of wood and paper products, printing (2,33); Hajdú-Bihar energy and water supply (1,90); manufacture of pharmaceuticals (3,26); education (1,59); social work activities (1,68); Agriculture (1,94); manufacture of textiles, apparel, leather (2,54); manufacture of rubber and plastics products, other non-metallic mineral Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok products (2,07); manufacture of electrical equipment (5,08); social work activities (1,60); Food industry (2,02); manufacture of textiles, apparel, leather (1,80); other Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg manufacturing (1,88); social work activities (2,51);

Table 3: Economic sectors with the biggest absolute increases and decreases of employment between 2000 and 2010 in Northeastern Hungary, respectively their importance in the Hungarian total and Roma employment at the turn of the millenium (2001); source: own compilation, based on the data of CSO Hungary Employment Change in Employment share (%) Economic activity employment share (%) (Total (Person) (Roma population) population) Human health and social work +30 345 6,5 4,1 activities; Real estate activities, economic +12 866 7,6 6,0 services; Manufacture of machinery and +5 443 7,7 9,4 equipment; Transportation, storage and +5 340 7,8 4,3 communication; Manufacture of metals and metal -5 269 2,3 3,0 products; Food industry; -8 401 3,7 4,9 Agriculture; -15 412 5,5 9,2 Manufacture of textiles, apparel, -20 485 4,0 6,8 leather;

180 Spatial structure of the economy in Northeastern Hungary

And which development tendencies of the inner spatial structure of the regional economy are recognizable? The Hirschman-Herfindahl index shows that the spatial concentration of the economy was slightly growing on microregional level during the decade. The Hoover index shows that the difference between the spatial dispersion of the economy and the population is significant, and seems to remain stable during the last decade. Both of the two indicators show us that gross value added is more concentrated than the employment which refer to a more inequal dispersion of competitive, higher value added activities within the region (Table 4).

Table 4: Concentration of regional economy on microregional level, based on the data of Hirschman-Herfindahl (HH) and Hoover indices; source: own compilation Indicators 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 HH: employment 0,057 0,059 0,059 0,061 0,060 0,061 0,060 0,061 0,061 0,062 HH: gross value added 0,063 0,071 0,072 0,071 0,073 0,074 0,073 0,071 0,071 0,073 Hoover: employment 22 22 22 23 22 22 22 21 21 20 Hoover: gross value added 31 32 32 33 32 34 33 32 33 31

Figure 2 shows the most important microregions („hot spots”) of the regional economy, based on employment data. The overwhelming majority of them took place every year during the decade among the 10 largest microregional economy. They are mostly microregions with a higher number of population (over 50 000 inhabitants) belonging to county seats (Debrecen /1/, /2/, Miskolc /3/, Nyíregyháza /4/, Salgótarján /5/ as well as Szolnok /6/) or some relatively succesful middle-sized towns (Gyöngyös /7/, Hajdúböszörmény /8/, Hatvan /9/, Jászberény /10/ and /11/). Their population and employment share

181 (45%, 65%) remained stable during the decade. It’s also important to mention that the share of the greatest employer microregions is even higher within the gross value added (70%) (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Microregions with the biggest absolute employment; source: own compilation based on the data of NTCA

The employment intensity (number of employees in comparison to the number of total population) shows significant differences within the region. We find the highest employment intensity mostly in the microregions of the county seats, the successful socialist industrial towns and in the microregions with a good geographical position (near to the agglomeration of Budapest). The geography of employment intensity is similar to the geography of employment concentration: the majority of the most developed microregions shape a half-circle form within the region. Almost two third of all microregions has a low employment intensity (with values below 75% of the regional average). As extreme example could be mentioned the Bodrogköz microregion where the value of the indicator doesn’t reach 30% of the regional average. The relatively big differences between the

182 microregions of Debrecen and Nyíregyháza, respectively their Eastern neighbours show us that – despite the approximately similar size of microregions and employment catchment areas – the attraction effects of some large employer centres can cross the borders of their microregions. According to the data of census 2001, many commuters move from the microregions of Nagykálló (Nagykálló, Újfehértó) and Ibrány-Nagyhalász to Nyíregyháza, as well as the microregions of Hajdúhadház (Hajdúhadház, Hajdúsámson, Téglás, Vámospércs), and Derecske-Létavértes to Debrecen. The underdeveloped microregions could be found on the inner and outer periphery (along the Tisza river and the state borders) (Figure 3). This pattern is similar to the results of Pénzes, J. based on the examination of income inequalities (Pénzes, J. 2011). The overwhelming majority of the microregions doesn’t show any spectacular mobility considering their development level during the decade after the turn of the millenium. Some positive changes are remarkable along the motorway M3, especially near to the capital (Hatvan /9/, Jászberény /10/, Mezőkövesd /12/). Microregions with significantly worsening position can be found mostly along the Northern border and inside of the plain (Figure 3). In the background of this spatial economic pattern we can find the heritage of the socialist era with its county seat- and industrial town- oriented development policy as well as the nowadays good position of locations near to the agglomeration of Budapest which are preferred sites of foreign direct investments. The growth of certain dynamic industries (first of all the manufacture of machinery and equipment) – mentioned earlier in the article – was partly concentrated in the emerging microregions of Hatvan, Jászberény and Mezőkövesd.

183

Figure 3: Employment intensity of the microregions in Northeastern Hungary; source: own compilation based on the data of NTCA and CSO Hungary

From the point of view of the Roma employment chances it’s very important to find out which differences could be observed between the spatial distribution of the regional economy and the Roma population. Our results show that the Roma population is generally in a longer distance from the workplaces than the total population (the values of the Hoover index for Roma population are about 40% in comparison to the 20% for the total population). Noteworthy is that there are no significant differences between the results counted from the statistics of the two diverse databases, for two different times (census 2001; Pásztor, I. 2010-2011) (Figure 4). The examination found also a medium strong negative correlation between the employment intensity and the population share of Roma inhabitants on microregional level. The Roma people have a dual spatial disadvantage: they are not only overrepresented in the most underdeveloped region of Hungary, but

184 they live distant from the „hot spots” of the regional economy: they have less e to have a job also because of geographical reasons.

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 2001 2010

Roma population Total population

Figure 4: Differences in the spatial distribution of the employment, respectively the Roma people and the total population (%); source: own compilation based on the data of NTCA, census 2001 and collection of Pásztor, I.

Summary

The article focuses on two (sectoral and spatial) structural aspects of the economy of North-eastern Hungary, with the aim to examine, what changes could be observed after the turn of the millenium, and which possible effects these changes have on the Roma employment. The results of the sectoral examination show, that the regional economy of Northeastern Hungary is innerly heterogenous, and despite the structural changes

185 of the last decades have some traditional sectors overrepresented in comparison to the national average. Nevertheless, the direction of the changes presents a challenge for Roma people: being overrepresented in the employment of the declining and underrepresented in the developing sectors, this segment of the society is more negatively influenced by the sectoral restructuring processes. The results of the spatial examination show, that there are significant, stable, rather growing spatial inequalities within the region. The hot spots of the regional economy are the microregions of county seats and – also due to the development of territories along the motorway M3, especially near to the agglomeration of Budapest – the microregions of some more successful middle-sized towns. Nevertheless the Roma population lives first of all not in these microregions: the average distance of this social group from the local workplaces – and its chance to remain unemployed – is bigger than in the case of the total population. As a consequence of the experiences, it can be emphasized that because of the relevance of the sectoral and spatial aspects, both of these factors should be taken into consideration by the initiatives which aims the general and large-scale increase of the Roma employment.

186 Literature

Dupcsik, Cs. (2009): A magyarországi cigányság története: történelem a cigánykutatások tükrében, 1890-2008. – Osiris, Budapest. 362 p. Kertesi, G. (2000): A cigány foglalkoztatás leépülése és szerkezeti átalakulása 1984 és 1994 között. Munkatörténeti elemzés. – Közgazdasági Szemle, május. pp. 406-443 Kertesi, G. (2005): Roma foglalkoztatás az ezredfordulón – a rendszerváltás maradandó sokkja. – Szociológiai Szemle, 2. pp. 57-87 Kiss, É. (2010): Területi szerkezetváltás a magyar iparban 1989 után. – Dialóg Campus, Budapest – Pécs. 223 p. Molnár, E. (2011): Industrial restructuring in the North Great Plain region (Hungary). – In: Regional and Cohesion Policy. Insights into the role of the Partnership Principle in the New Policy Design. IERS, Debrecen – Oradea. pp. 114-123 Pásztor, I. (2011): Location of the Gypsies in the Northern Great Plain and North Hungary Regions. – In: New Results of Cross-border Co-operation (ed. Kozma G.). Didakt Kft. Debrecen. pp. 151-160 Pásztor, I. Z.– Pénzes, J. (2012): Spatial distrbution and demographic trends of the Roma population in Northeastern Hungary – under publishing Pénzes, J. (2011): Északkelet-Magyarország jövedelmi térszerkezetének változásai a rendszerváltás után. – Területi statisztika, 2. pp. 181-197 Országos Fejlesztéspolitikai Koncepció (96/2005. (XII. 25.) országgyűlési határozat). 108 p. http://www.kvvm.hu/cimg/documents/96_2005_OGY_hat_OFK_rol.pdf; downloaded on 14th june 2012

187 Virag Havasi54 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES IN PERIPHERAL RURAL TERRITORIES OF BORSOD-ABAÚJ-ZEMPLÉN COUNTY

Introduction

The situation of the villages in the Borsod county and the situation of the Gypsies in them is very similar and very different at the same time. The main problems are the same everywhere: ageing or „gypsyfication”, high unemployment rate, poverty, lack of communities, lack of solidarity and lack of trust in each other and in the future. However, there are significant differences in the relationship between the Gypsy and non-Gypsy and also between Gypsy people or a given community itself. The survival strategy of people is also different, as is the combination of white, grey and black elements within it. Few people can find work in the so- called white economy, and even fewer can find permanent work. Most people are engaged in the grey economy- by which I refer to those activities which are legal in themselves, but are not registered, the actors do not pay taxes after them, etc. The majority of people get only public work. And there are some people who „work” in the black economy, dealing with totally illegal things (usury, stealing, prostitution, etc.) There are home gardens in some places, or woods around them, where forest products can be collected, while in other places scavenging and junk clearing is an option for acquiring income. The life of Gypsy people in villages depends to a large extent also on the persona of the major, and on whether he or she is a member of the governing party or of the opposition. A very important factor of the prosperity of the Gypsies is whether they have non-Gypsy patrons or

54 PhD, assistant professor, University of Miskolc, Institute of Sociology; e-mail: [email protected]

188 not, and who they are. (Szalonna-Wágner, Ózd-Bódis, Szendrőlád-Szuhay, Sajókaza-Derdák, etc.) The purpose of this essay is to trace the history of two communities and the undertaken community development initiatives in each, with their results and failures, through the example of two neighboring but very different villages in the BAZ county, both of which are characterized by significant Gypsy population. The sources of the information are in-depth interviews and informal conversations with the inhabitants of Tomor and Lak.

Community development

First of all we need to clarify the meaning of the word „community” and the way we use it, given the extensive use and treatment of the subject in the field of sociology as well as in public discourse. Some scientists (like Lewin, Mérei, Merton) use the word “community” as a neutral expression (Varga, A- Vercseg, I 1998), while for others it refers to a higher level of integration, thus having a valuable content. (Heller, Á. 1970) Dékány makes a distinction between community and organization. Communities are full of life, they are rich in values, emotions, traditions, they have multiple purposes and are characterized by long- term membership and intensive, warm relationships. Organizations in turn are particular creations, they are poor in norms, values and traditions, membership in them is temporal, the relationships within are cold, particular, short-term, and they have only one purpose. (Dékány, I. 1943) According to Warren, community has to provide physical and psychical safety as a home to its members, it has to fulfill the following functions: - socialization (giving values to its members) - economic prosperity (giving subsistence possibilities) - social participation (satisfying the need for social contacts)

189 - social control (demanding the complying of common norms) - mutual support (with which the community can realize purposes which are too big or too urgent for one person to treat it alone). (Warren, R. L. 1978)

I will use Warren’s five functions as a frame for analyzing the efficiency of the communities- though I won’t examine the question of socialization separately, as a certain degree of socialization occurs in every group. The phenomenon of modern societies being characterized by the lack of communities were identified and formulated by several scholars –among whom maybe the most frequently cited being Tönnies. Nevertheless the desire for creating perfect communities is much older. In the 1960’s the term ‘community development’ in the United States began to complement the idea of urban renewal, while in Western Europe, community development first appeared as a part of social work, so its main target groups were the poor and other deprived minorities. In Hungary –in contrast- the birth places of community development were the community centers, and its midwives were some innovative culture organizers. While Western colleagues work with target groups primarily (poor people, women, immigrants, tenants, single parents, etc.), Hungarian community development workers address 'everyone' in a given locality and they co-operate with those who demand it. Despite these differences, today community development in Hungary is approaching the Western practice to a significant extent. At present community development is both an occupation and a way of working with communities. According to its methodology the community developer first builds relationships with key people and organizations in the locality and then they together identify the common concerns of the community. For this different techniques are used, like community appraisals, the “future workshop” method, “Teach and Learn Catalogue”, but most frequently thematic and public discussions. The common in these methods that their aim is not only

190 getting information, but also increasing involvement, motivation, participation and commitment of local people. The community developer tries to create opportunities for the community to learn new skills, to enable people to act together. (Varga, A – Vercseg, I. 1998) The personality and personal abilities of the developer are decisive factors in what will happen in the community, e.g. some developers have talent for inspire economic development, others can work with youth groups. There are plenty of definitions of community development, some of them are over-narrow, while others are overly broad. For me community development means the ameliorating of the fulfillment of one or more functions of the community. The source of this kind of change can come from outside and inside of the community. The source can be the activity of an outsider, a community development worker (this is the classical case), but the activity of a local person can also lead to the development of a community. And so can other, external events, like a crisis or the introduction of a new institution.

The initial situation of the Gypsies in the two analyzed villages before the change of regime

Lak was a middle-sized village with about 1300 inhabitants. 600 of them were Romungros. The loam houses of the Gypsies were situated in two segregated „lines”. The majority of the men worked in factories in the neighboring towns. They were commuters, travelled day-by day. The rest of the Gypsy men and all of the Hungarian people worked in the agricultural cooperation. Gypsy women worked in the towns as cleaning ladies or built the houses in the new two lines and few worked in Tomor in the sewing factory. Gypsies were led by their voivode. They had a vivid community life. They ate and played music together every

191 evening. They built together a community house, where they watched movies every Saturday. They had a beat band and a theatre group, they had monthly balls. Hungarian and Gypsy people cheered for the local football team together, they helped each other and on the wedding parties of the Hungarian people Gypsies got food- though just on the street. Only the richest Gypsy family and the best musician could enter the wedding party. Tomor was a smaller village, with 300 Hungarian and 22 Romungro inhabitants. Here everyone worked in the agriculture cooperation; besides every family (Gypsy families as well) had their own lands and a lot of animals (chickens, cows, pigs, lambs, goats). They went sleeping at 8 and got up at 4 o’clock. The Gypsies of Tomor despised the Gypsies of Lak, who - according to them - did not know anything about agricultural work, who just played music-as they said. Sometimes the Gypsies of Tomor went together to the fields, women made ‘vakaro’ (Gypsy bread) and men caught gophers. Rarely they had parties with canned music -which always ended in fight- and occasionally they watched television together in the club. Gypsies in Tomor got along with the Hungarians, but they did not love each other -though they had regular football matches against each other. The size of the villages, the proportion of Gypsies in them, and the work and free-time activity of Gypsies were also different in the two places. The life in Lak was almost idyllic- though they were poor, but all the five functions of the community were satisfied in Tomor, too. Szuhay pointed that Gypsy groups are separated along the lines of occupation, lifestyle, financial situation, system of klans and kinship or geography. These groups express their differences and group identities with real and symbolic instruments, one of which is the strict system of endogamy. (Members of one group may only marry within that group.) (Szuhay, P. 2002) In our case the basis of the distinction between the Gypsy inhabitants of the

192 two villages was the lifestyle and occupation. But their separation was rather symbolic, they were expressed only in words, as there were mixed marriages among them. The separation between Gypsies and non-Gypsies was bigger in Lak, where only a few “received children” drew nearer the two groups. In Tomor however almost every young Gypsy adult got married to a non-Gypsy partner.

Changes in life after the change of regime

After 1989 the factories - where the inhabitants of Lak worked- were shut down, so the Gypsies became unemployed. There were no common cooking and other common events any more, but envy, stealing, quarrels and fights turned up. The voivode step aside. The situation was worsened by the arrival of Vlach Roma from Finke. (A subsidy of social policy- the so called szocpol- caused a migration in the country within the gypsy community. Those who were entitled to it bought houses where they could.) Vlach Gypsies had a lot of children, and their number expanded fast. They brought the business to Lak (gold, car and usury) and the number of theft cases further increased. The relationship between Gypsies and non-Gypsies also worsened, the non-Gypsies began to generalize, to condemn every Gypsy due to the behavior of a few. Romungro Gypsies considered that prejudices and misjudges about the Gypsies were caused by Vlach Gypsies. The law on the minorities in 1993 and the establishing of the Roma self government (CKÖ) in 1994 gave a new impetus to the community life. The new Roma self government organized a few common events, went with the children to the beach, a new music band was founded, they gained potato to plant (though the crop was stolen). However after the president of the Roma self government moved to Budapest, the self government itself broke off.

193 At that time a non-Gypsy sociologist from Budapest arrived in the village. Earlier she had written her thesis here. She came once a week, organized parties, brought donations, talked with the people, who had hope and so many plans in those days. But when one of the young potential leaders of the community left Lak, the sociologist went with him, and continued her work in Tomor. Without external means and external inspiration and with the departure of the strong local people, there were no power in the community to fight for their dreams, or just to follow the work which others had begun. Since then nothing has changed in the village, except the persona of the mayor, which caused even more tension between the people. The darkest episode in the history of Lak was the murder of an old lady and the demonstration of the Gárda (a right wing extremist, paramilitary group) after it in 2011. The problems reached Tomor later, the agricultural cooperative was shut down in 1997, the sewing factory in 2001, and the families could cultivate their hired lands and thus keep animals until 2003. Meanwhile the sociologist and the young Gypsy man from Lak arrived here and founded the Rom Som Foundation. They won a grant from the Autonómia Foundation and began to breed goats. At the beginning the business went well, the Gypsies who participated could send their children to the towns to learn, they embellished their houses and the Foundation bought a community house. The goat project was the activity of the youth, but the elderly Gypsy also activated themselves. In 2002 they established the Roma self government of Tomor and organized community events, like sport’s day, winter’s day, excursions. The sociologist left this village also, but the initiative she gave was enough to sustain the continuation of the process. The main difference between Lak and Tomor was that in Tomor Gypsies had work and income. Moreover they weren’t just employees, the goat project was their own. The sociologist taught them “to be

194 human. She quarreled for us, she got the keys of the community house, while we did not. We got courage from her.”-says one of the Gypsies. This result was not enough for them, they won a drug-prevention tender through the Mobilitás Foundation and they tried to collect further social and material capital. It is worth to tell a few words about this drug-prevention program, as it was a real “home made” project. The local young people read books about drugs and first they tried to give lectures to the children, but it did not work- naturally. Then they and the children created theater pieces together about the drugs and they made movies about it. The way of collecting capital was also quite interesting: the young leader went to all kind of trainings, programs, and he went along the main street of Miskolc, knocked on the doors of the firms and organizations which had offices there, and spoke them about the plans of Tomor and asked for help. As a result two community development workers began to work with them during 2002 and 2003. They had weekly meetings in Tomor, they made a SWOT analysis of the village and made plans for the functioning of their community house, especially for an after school program. Typically women were those who participated in these meetings, but men also popped in and knew about everything. Meanwhile the goat project ended, partly because a disease broke out among the animals and partly because the owner took back the pastures- and began to raise goats. At this time the sociologist from Budapest came back and the foundation won a HEFOP tender and they launched their first after school (Tanoda) program, which was followed by two others. Table 1. summarizes the main content of these programs, the changing of the state of the community, the joining events and other main lessons of the history. The starting point of the first Tanoda was that the adults had the experience from their childhood of not understanding what the teachers explained to them. This is why they decided to teach their children themselves. A lucky coincidence

195 was that some of the men were attending the digital grammar school in those years. They also got advices from the teachers of the primary school of Edelény about the methodology of teaching. Among the three after school programs, this had the best feedback. The Gypsies got letter of thanks from the local teachers, and the results of their children progressed a lot. They were so proud of their successes. In the second after school program however they changed the methods and they tried to react to the challenge of unemployment which the members of the community had to face. That is why there were training programs for adults in it, and as a necessary consequence, they had to employ external people as managers and helpers of their children. The newcomers caused tensions in the functioning of the community- love affairs disturbed their lives. The financing system of the project was another burden and caused further tensions, as the Rom Som had to ask loans for pre-financing, but then they could not pay the interests, as those were not calculated into the budget. (A lot of similar projects and organizations had the same problem in those times.) The men established an enterprise - in connection with the construction builder qualification which they obtained. The firm could not find work due to the lack of social capital and connections required for getting orders. However the community had good reputation by then, which attracted other social entrepreneurs in the village. Another sociologist launched the ‘wifi’ village program in the village, through which cheap computers and internet access were distributed to poor people in 150 villages. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br6q4LsIAzk) Adults and children learnt quickly, and the project demonstrated that the digital abyss can be decreased easily and rapidly. The internet is a source of getting experiences, it develops some capacity of the users (problem solving, reading, writing), it gives information, which can increase the chances on the labor market, it can offer business possibilities, and it is a mean of keep in touch with friends and relatives. The

196 internet and especially the facebook proved to be very useful for Tomor later, as we will see. The community contracted with a third sociologist, who promised to bring to Tomor his grammar school for Gypsy students. A bigger community house was necessary for this purpose and a new loan, but the plan was to pay the monthly installments from the rentals of the grammar school. The newly trained bricklayers of the village built the house. The opening ceremony was a huge event, a lot of sociologist and roma came to it. The Boyash roma were too noisy and that is why conflicts arose between the mayor and the Gypsies and also between the guest and the local Gypsies. This was the first sign of what happened later. There was no mutual trust between the local leaders and the leadership of the grammar school, which did not remain in the village for a long time. As a consequence the Rom Som Foundation could not pay the monthly installments, and the owner of their community house became the bank. Fortunately there is always someone to rent the house for some purpose (several training courses ran in it) and the local community can use the building for its common events. One important lesson of the events is that professionalization, growing capacity for absorption and more conflicts go together. While the bigger capacity for absorption can give more resources for the purposes of the community, the other two factors, the professionalization and the conflicts are undermining the community-life. A huge community development project ran in the region between 2006-2009, the Cserehát program- financed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour in Hungary and the UNDP. Though the chief technical advisor of the program refuses that this was a community development process and the community development workers in the program were labeled as coaches, the aims and the methodology was the same as we described earlier, what are the purposes and techniques of community development. The coaches involved the members of the communities;

197 they encouraged them to organize themselves. The program gave trainings, focusing on topics like how to identify resources and potential partners for sustainable local development projects. Small grants (up to $6,000) were made available for projects that would benefit the community. 69 Roma self- help groups were established or supported. These groups organized youth programs, cleaning actions and landscaping in the slums, summer camps for children, etc. Some of the self-help groups formalized and became Associations or the actors founded minority self-governments later. The program could bring together public and business operators, civil society organizations, and marginalized groups and fostered their mutual communication. Unfortunately when the program finished, the actors left the region, some associations discontinued their functioning, some partners changed their behavior, but a part of them also remained active and cooperative. (http://europeandcis.undp.org/cd/show/E73A3807-F203-1EE9- B5878013045DEEC5). The best feature of the Cserehát program- according to the Gypsies- was that Gypsies living in the same region but in different villages, got acquainted with each other. Another remaining result of the project is that it identified and activated a lot of talented Roma. How did the program affected the life of Tomor? The young local nonprofit managers worked in it as voluntary workers supporting the engagement of the members of other Gypsy communities and organizing programs. The old Gypsies of Tomor founded an Association in 2007, called “Csereháti Roma Önsegítő Közhasznú Egyesület (Cserőke)”. The minority self- government applied for a grant for keeping pigs, but in the meantime it had to discontinue its functioning, because there were not enough Gypsies in Tomor. The Rom Som Foundation got into a hopeless situation due to its debts. The birth of Cserőke revealed another thing: that the community had become mature and autonomous. The Association

198 has been functioning since then, and currently organizes programs especially for children.

Table 1: After school programs in Tomor (activity of the adults, status of the community, lessons and related events) Who dealt with the What did the local What Lessons, related children/ who were Gypsy adults do happened with events the managers of the during the project? the project? community? 2005- 35 children were Adults attended the Flourishing The Foundation was 2007 taught by local digital grammar community fined because there Gypsies. school in Edelény and life were more children they also got training in the school, than from the teachers in the plans. about how to teach. 2007- Sociologists and Adults attended Tensions Log-in/wifi village 2009 anthropologists were trainings to be within the program started in the managers and also kindergarten nurses, community Tomor. they dealt with the non-profit managers Building a bigger children. and bricklayers. house for a The men founded an grammar school. enterprise, but they 2008 UNDP did not find work. program Men became nonprofit Foundation of managers and worked Cserőke voluntarily in the Association UNDP program. 2009- Official teachers of Due to debts, they (2010) the school of Edelény could not realize the dealt with the program, it has children. worked just for 3 months (instead of 2 years).

During the UNDP programme, two men from Tomor followed with their camera the Roma community related local events in the region. First it was their voluntary interest, but starting in 2008, they worked as the staff of the Cserehát Roma News Agency-which was financed by the UNDP project. (http://www.cicsero.net/hu/content/ bemutatkoz%C3%A1s). The establishing of this agency provoked mixed feelings in the Gypsies, as originally it was their idea,

199 but it was realized by another organization. According to the stories of the Gypsies, this happened in many other cases. Whatever happened, a sociologist advised them to put their films on the net. They have a channel on the youtube and their purpose is to alter the attitudes of people about Gypsies, to show their real lives. This media activity is crucial, as the Roma image on the national media is quite one-sided. Gypsies are typically shouting and they are very aggressive, they are criminals or very poor and dirty. The Gypsy journalists of Tomor reach quite a few people with their films, and thousands people saw their coverage on the flood, on a forum of “Jobbik” (a right wing extremist party) or on the activity of the Gypsy mayor of (a village with bad reputation). They created a community page on the Facebook, called “Cserepressz”, which is now the news agency of the Cserehát. The group “Cserehát saját hangja” (Cserehát’s own voice) works voluntarily. With the help of their short films they can express their criticism against local phenomena, their youtube activity for them is a device of control for democracy. Once e.g. a village won a grant for road building, but in the Gypsy slum it wasn’t built. After a film was shot about the situation, the road was finished. Their example proves that internet offers a new hope for a participatory kind of democracy, with its rich potential for information and communication, it can be a new agora. (Damiris, N- Wild, H) Through internet the passive consumer public can be again a critical public- as it was before the era of mass media. (Habermas, J. 1971)Another vivid example about the possibilities which the internet can extend to disadvantaged people is the crucial role of Facebook in the history of Tomor. The local Gypsy leader searched for and found partners on the Facebook. As he did in the past by knocking on the doors -now he has written messages to unknown people. Some people replied and a few relationships became stable and fruitful. They collected donations after the floods, and they collect gifts for poor children at every Christmas. Some of the donators became their friends

200 and now they are working on economic projects together. And this is very important, as the main problem remained here the lack of stable income and work. Through the Facebook, they built partnership with the Society of Liberty Rights (TASZ). Tomor is a TASZ point now- gives free legal aid for Roma people who experienced an encroachment of their rights. The TASZ also gives donations and organizes community developing events- e.g. reading together with famous people, theater performances. Tomor also attracted the attention of the Open Society Institute, with whom they are now negotiating their future cooperation.

Conclusions

The starting point of the analysis was that a community has to develop the functions of socialization, economic prosperity, social participation, social control and mutual support. When the level of satisfaction of these functions is ameliorating, the community is developing. The impetus of the development can be an inner our outer cause, it can be an event, an institutional change an action or a series of actions. The community in Tomor fulfills the functions of mutual support, social participation and social control, but it still cannot give the economic safety to its members and the community members are not content with their own free time activities. But they are working on the solutions. In contrast none of the functions of the communities are satisfied in Lak momentarily, though the initial situation of this community was better. On the basis of the two stories we can conclude that the will, the openness, the determination of the local community and local actors are essential factors for the success of a community development process. And if the community members or the locality itself are disadvantaged, capital, knowledge, and encouragement from

201 outside are also important elements for successful development. In the case of Lak, these external elements left the village too early, before the community could learn to act alone. Here furthermore other factors obstruct the initiatives: too much new- comers and more interest groups (klans), decades of experience of unemployment. This village hasn’t passed the phase beyond which the Gypsies are more than just indices in the projects and target groups. In Tomor however the community has become mature and independent. Now they are partners in the projects, they are equal parties. This community is smaller and more unified, than the community of Lak, it’s easier to join with each other within it, it is more manageable. However the little size of the community is sometimes a disadvantage, as there are tenders and programs which are not suitable for them. Maybe this is the reason they are the focal point of the regional cooperation. They have been involving the neighboring people in their projects since the beginning. The role of the minority self government can be very important. We could learn from the analyzed cases that an institutional change (here the law on the minorities which created the possibility for establishing minority self governments) can be the cause of the development of a community. The present situation of the minority self-governments in Hungary is two-faced. They get little normative support from the state, but there are a lot of tenders for them. Momentarily many Roma self-governments lack the capacity to write and manage tenders, but this capacity can be developed. There are good initiatives for this capacity building from the past, e.g. the Roma academy in 2009. A great challenge in the life of communities is to preserve the community as a community, while they are creating organizations and trying to get resources. In this analysis we have spoken about disadvantaged people. They are disadvantaged, because they have low level of education, they are un- or

202 underemployed, they are poor and they suffer from discrimination- and these four factors are interrelated. The people who we have spoken about are Gypsies. The question of community here remains is an important factor, as Gypsies are characterized by strong cohesion, solidarity and mutual support within the family (or klan). As the families are quite large, due to the traditionally big number of children, we can find extended social networks among them, which is a good base of the development of communities. From the other side, strong family-ties have the disadvantage of the lack of trust between different families, which can be an obstacle of community development on the level of settlement- especially when more than one family lives in one settlement. Finally we have to speak about the connections between poverty and community life. These two questions can relate in two ways. First, for those who are poor, the most important question is “giving bread to the family tomorrow” and do not have capacity for dealing with other people. But at the same time, community ties can be consolation within hard material conditions. Second, people, who have work, in many cases do not have time for their family, their community. This is a vicious circle, what can be solved by cooperation and sharing the burdens -whatever burdens we are speaking about. The paper does not offer recipes for community development, but it does contain faults which can be avoided and a few good initiatives and ideas which can be adopted.

203 Bibliography

Community Development Challenge Report. http://www.cdf.org.uk/SITE/UPLOAD/DOCUMENT/communitydevelopment challenge.pdf. (Retrieved 2009-02-13.) Damiris, N - Wild, H: The Internet: A New Agora? http://hexagram.concordia.ca/~xinwei/pub/img/sources/Damiris/Internet- A_New_Agora.pdf Dékány, I. (1943): A mai társadalom: Bevezetés a társadalomtudományokba, Pantheon Kiadás, Budapest Habermas, J. (1971): A társadalmi nyilvánosság szerkezetváltása. Gondolat, Budapest. Heller, Á (1970): A mindennapi élet. Budapest, Akadémiai Kiadó Szuhay, P (2002): Self-Definitions of Gypsy Ethnic Groups. In: Kállai, E (ed): The Gypsies/The Roma in Hungarian Society. Teleki László Foundation, Budapest, pp 24-28 Varga, T. – Vercseg, I. (szerk.) (1998): Közösségfejlesztés. Budapest, Magyar Művelődési Intézet Warren, R, L. (1978): The Community in America. Chicago, Rand McNally

204 Jana Kolesárová55

PRO-POOR TOURISM (PPT) AS A TOOL FOR POVERTY REDUCTION IN ROMA COMMUNITIES IN SLOVAKIA

Introduction

The Roma minority has a specific position within Europe, as the Roma people do not have a home country. They live in many European countries since Middle Ages, however despite the long centuries they have not merged with major population and the mutual coexistence results in numerous critical issues. Although the Roma issue is not a specific problem of the Slovak Republic, the situation in Slovakia is particular. Unlike neighbouring countries, in Slovakia there have come into existence numerous segregated Roma settlements (ghettos), where the poverty rate is constantly growing. The central concern of this paper is searching for possible solution to improve the situation in Roma settlements. We will focus on the issues how and why it is possible to use tourism as a tool for poverty reduction and sustainable development of marginalized Roma communities (MRC). The proposed solution is based on the concept of pro-poor tourism which has been proved a successful tool by several examples applied in developing countries. This fact inspired us to adapt PPT strategies for marginalized Roma communities in Slovakia. The aim of this contribution is to explain the concept of PPT and to explore potential links between the mainstream tourism industry and marginalized Roma communities in Slovakia in order to fight against poverty and to stimulate their own development.

Pro-poor tourism as tool for development

55 PhD-student, University of Presov in Presov, Department of Geography and Regional Development; Ul. 17. novembra 1, 081 16 Prešov, e-mail: jkolesarova@)yahoo.com

205

Many experts in the field of regional development share the view that poverty reduction requires economic growth. But it is also well known that the growth alone is not sufficient. What is needed is economic growth that specifically brings benefits to the poor. Tourism is human labour demanding, offers number of job or enterprise opportunities and attract “reach“ tourists, i.e. potential consumers of the local goods and services. However, the most common problem is that without a focused and active involvement, the opportunities from which the poor could benefit thanks to the incoming tourists are missing. The challenge for tourism as a tool for poverty reduction is to address the issue of how and where to intervene in order to provide better opportunities, empowerment and security to the poor at the local level, in addition to stimulating the growth at the regional and national levels ( Id21 Insights. 2006:1; OSN.2005:8). In the tourism sector, according to Ashley and Mitchel (2009:4) it can be identified two tourism development models depicted in figure 1. The first model represents general approach, the situation where market and public sector decisions determine how to dispose the tourism revenues, with the possibility that money will “go down” also to the poor one day. Nowadays, in many developing countries, tourism increases economic growth through its contribution to GDP, foreign exchange revenues, taxes and other charges. However, most of tourism development approaches focus on increasing the number of arrivals, and the poor are far away from any benefits. The second model (fig.1) represents a pro-poor approach which is different and comes out from different initial vision. The development through tourism is still in the centre, but what’s more, at the same time it has to increase the incomes of the poor and let to grow their assets and/or the participation rate (Id21 Insights. 2006:1). The term “pro-poor tourism“ was used for the first time in the report elaborated by the UK Department for International Development in 1999. The aim

206 of the report was to review the links between sustainable tourism and poverty reduction and to examine how tourism could contribute to poverty reduction. Afterwards, this term was presented at the UN meeting during the same year. There was presented also its vision, i.e. that poverty should be the central issue in the agenda for tourism and to follow this goal Pro-poor tourism partnership was established. PPT partnership defines pro-poor tourism as „tourism, which increases direct benefits to the poor. These can be not only economic ones but also social, environmental and cultural ones“. (Ashley, Roe, Goodwin, 2001:2). Focus on the poverty, its reduction and help to the poor are the characteristic features of PPT. The core aim of PPT strategies is to “unlock opportunities for the poor, rather than to expand the overall size of the sector” (Ashley, Roe, Goodwin, 2001b:2) Although some of the case studies show that their success would not be possible without the development of the whole tourist destination, the focus is primarily on the direct benefits to the poor. The major characteristics of tourism which increase its potential for development of the poor are: high portion of human labour, involvement of women in the informal sector, building on natural and cultural heritage of the poor, and its suitability for the poor regions. To use tourism for the growth and development of the poor means to utilize all of these characteristics, along with reducing the negative impacts on the poor. Potential for the change can be strengthen through the continuing role of „high level planning“ by the governments and through the strong commercial and international interest in sustainable tourism. Many forms of tourism are rather expensive and unfriendly for the poor to be applied, since they limit access to the land, water or some other valuable nature resources essential for life of the poor. That is why companies or businesses in tourism should not try to gain access to these assets under the pretence of pro-poor tourism if they do not create reasonable

207 returns to „owners“ (ID21 Insights. 2006:2). Otherwise, in case the costs exceed revenues, tourism can contribute to increasing rather than to reducing of poverty.

1. EXISTING TOURISM 2. PRO-POOR TURISM

Market forces and government Pro-poor tourism that generates allocation determine where the net benefits for the poor and aims economic benefits of tourism are to unlock opportunities for allocated and directed. economic gain, other livehood Tourism benefits and participation in spendings decision making for poor people.

Possible benefits to the poor Benefits directed to the poor

Figure 1: Two tourism development models Source: Ashley, Mitchell, 2009:4

Many people think that PPT is the same as sustainable or community-based tourism, and that community tourism is inherently “good” to poor communities. However, neither of these notions is correct. According to Ashley at al (2001:2) PPT overlaps, but in many ways differ from the agenda of sustainable tourism. Sustainable tourism „focus on environmental concerns” and although its current concept was broadened and includes social, economic, and cultural aspects, benefits to local people are generally of secondary importance. In contrast, the primary aim of PPT is to expand the opportunities and benefits to the poor, while environmental concerns should contribute to this aim (Bennett, 1999:14). Poverty reduction is thus the central focus of PPT approaches and not only one of more focus elements. In case of PPT we also do not talk about a specific product, sector of tourism or an alternative form, but about new approach to tourism industry development and management (Ashley, 2001b:2). Its priority is not the expansion

208 of tourism as an economic sector but exploitation of new or so far less used opportunities to achieve economic growth, increase public involvement, and contribute to making co-decisions in order to improve current living conditions. The target groups of PPT are always the poor and marginalized people with the luck of opportunities and facilities (e.g. health care, education), though they do not necessarily have to be the poorest in the region. (Id21 Insights.2006:2). Poverty itself is seen as “a multidimensional phenomenon that consists of a lack of certain things upon which human health, wellbeing, and autonomous social functioning depend, including the ability to meet ‘basic needs’ (i.e. food, shelter, clothing etc.). This lack may consist of insufficient income, consumption or assets, dignity, rights, or security” (Cattarinich, 2001:1). The ability of the poor to influence decisions affecting their lives, vulnerability or resilience to shocks, access to services and assets, strength or disruption of social networks are all important factors to be considered in assessing poverty rate (Ashley, Mitchel. 2009:12). Tourism as one of the few economy sectors can affect many of these aspects of well-being or livelihoods and therefore it undoubtedly is a suitable mechanism for poverty reduction. There are several possible ways how PPT can impact the local economy and also the people who are part of it (Figure 2). Along various side effects of tourism on the poor but also those who are not in material need, pro-poor tourism can directly impact on the poor households in the destination in several ways. Besides the positive impacts, however, tourism may also have negative ones (e.g. the over-burdening of local infrastructure, limiting access to the local resources, undermining of social ties etc.). The positive impacts of the PPT, as argued also by WTO, include the following (OSN. 2005:8): • PPT unlocks opportunities for pro-poor economic growth by providing formal and informal employment; • Creates profit and collective income from locally-owned businesses;

209 • Facilitates social development by increasing access to infrastructure, providing local people with the opportunity to access tourism infrastructure; • Generates fundings for investments in health education and other basic needs; • Helps increase participation of the local communities in decision making, as tourism products are often assets owned by the poor; • Reduces vulnerability by diversification of income opportunities; • Promotes environmental protection as the natural and human environment are essential for tourism development.

Tourism 3. Dynamic effects Sector 1. Direct effects 2 1.Direct . Inter-sectoral l

Poor Non-poor household households s within i

nkages destinatio Poor 2. Induced effects household Non-tourist s outside sector destinatio 1. Indirect effects

Figure 2: The key message of poverty reduction by PPT Source: Ashley, Mitchell, 2009

The above statements demonstrate that assessing the livelihood impacts of tourism is not only a matter of macroeconomic factors, i.e. counting jobs or wage income, GDP or private sector investments etc. The wide range of tourism impacts (economic, environmental, social, and cultural) demonstrates great power of tourism and prove its ability to contribute to the solution of as multidimensional

210 problem as poverty is. The greatest benefits of PPT certainly are new jobs and incomes, which significantly reduce vulnerability of the poor. Benefits to the poor resulting from tourism depend primarily on where and how they can economically participate in this industry (available financial and human capital). As reported by Ashley et al (2000:4) waged employment can be sufficient to lift a household from insecure to secure, but may only be available to a minority, and not the all poor. Casual earnings per person may be very small, but much more widely spread (Ashley, 2000), and may be enough, for instance, to cover school costs for one or more children. However, economic participation by the poor in tourism and general contribution of PPT are influenced by wide range of noneconomic factors ranging from the local (assets, gender, livelihood strategies) to the policy environment (tenure, regulations) and commercial context (market segments) and all embody constraints which can be reduced (Ashley et al. 2000:2).

Developing chains between tourism and MRC to sustain their own development

Addressing poverty, especially that of marginalised Roma communities (MRC), is one of the most discussed and studied current topics in Slovakia. From the practical experience we know, that to leave these communities suddenly dependent on their own destiny leads to their even greater exclusion and decline. It is obvious that the marginalised Roma communities will not develop themselves because of the lack of abstract thinking. “The problem is seen in missing discipline, orientation towards future and wealth accumulation (Sheffel, 2010), as well as in lack of ambitiousness, the need to be successful or to leave good impression. Members of MRC are unable to keep pace with changes in the economy and need help especially in ensuring their basic survival, human dignity and participation in

211 society functioning, from which they are excluding. That’s why there are developed many projects and programmes which are trying to open and utilize the opportunities of the socioeconomic development for them. However from a long- term perspective it is proved a very low efficiency of solutions focused on this issue as many of expensive programmes trying for some improvement failed. It is well known that current specific problems of multidimensional social exclusion of Roma minority are too distinct to be captured and effectively solved by generally formulated policies. Experience has shown that addressing of only one of problematic area is not sufficient, since they are all mutually interrelated and they overlap. Such complex problem as the Roma issue is, needs to be dealt in depth so it could be achieved some positive results. For these reasons, to ensure system solution for their situation, it is necessary to develop the opportunities, which solve problems concerning various areas of their life in a complex way. In addition, as Hojsík et al. (2010) state, to achieve sustainable solution, self-development and self-realisation of marginalized groups within the majority society through the use of the specifics of their minority identity should became main components of any development programme. This means that to achieve effective and sustainable solution to improving living conditions and social status of the Roma we need both, increased effective action of public authorities and major societies as well as increased responsibility and interest among the Roma, but in that order. One of the possible actions taken by public and private authorities is to allow development and implementation of already mentioned PPT approach. The linking of tourism, local businesses, Roma communities, their culture and traditions brings forward potential solution for complex “Roma issue” in Slovakia. PPT appears to be a suitable tool for several reasons. Specifically, it opens the possibility of higher integration of members of MRC along with preservation of their own identity. Moreover, tourism has a potential to create jobs and transform Roma ghettos into a

212 pleasant living environment. Although only by a small portion, but tourism can contribute to the restructuralization of Roma settlements and to their peaceful inclusion. Other important positive aspect is the breaking barriers between two different cultures. PPT can also help to eliminate the prejudices against marginalised communities through the examination of forgotten traditions, that form the basis of identity and positively affect understanding. The realisation of efforts combining tourism, cultural distinction and the development of backward Roma settlements, with a primary goal to reduce their poverty, requires the examination of several aspects. Based on the knowledge that it has to be considered a wide range of different economic and non-economic aspects, we identified following aspects as the key determinants essential for achieving a desirable social, economic and environmental impact of PPT in MRC: a) existing resource base for tourism (poor marginalised community with lack of opportunities and services, cultural distinction, natural resources, developed tourism infrastructure); b) active involvement of community members; c) the interest of the community, and d) economic gains. These variables form the basis of development framework and they can bring direct and indirect effects on the desired development. After the studying and analyzing PPT approach, case studies and our target community, we have identified several other factors (location, availability of capital, knowledge base...etc) important for the successful implementation of PPT strategies in MRC. In the following paragraphs, we will discuss reported determinants and factors in more details:

Human capital (voluntary and active participation of community members) As we have already mentioned, the benefits to the poor from tourism depend primarily on whether and how the poor can participate in the tourism sector. To be able to receive any benefits, they should be involved into the activities of PPT

213 destination. However, their active participation is influenced by their own interest in such participation. Social exchange theory provides one of the most common frameworks for examining the community attitudes. From a tourism perspective, social exchange theory implies, that “residents’ support is based on their evaluations of the benefits and costs resulting from the industry“ (Andereck et al. in Nunkoo, Ramkissoon, 2011: 965). The success of this theory was confirmed by several case studies and practical examples (e.g Gursoy & Rutherford, 2004; Lee et al., 2010; Nunkoo & Ramkissoon, 2010 in Nunkoo, Ramkissoon, 2011: 965) and it says that one of the assumptions for successful implementation and running of PPT projects is to achieve a complex satisfaction of community members and their motivation. It is important to remember that satisfaction has a multidimensional nature and consists of several sub-constructs.

Perceived benefits of tourism Trust in institutions Support for PPT development and Power to influence Overall satisfaction from MRC and policy making of participating their willingness to MRC participate in their own development

Neighbourhood conditions Perceived costs of tourism

Figure 3: Model of community support for PPT Source: Adopted and modified from Nunkoo, Ramkissoon. 2011: 967

An integrative framework according to Nunkooa a Ramkissoona (2011: 965) appears to be the suitable also for MRC in Slovakia. His framework says that

214 power to influence policy making (i.e. not to solve our problems without us), trust in local institutions, and satisfaction with neighbourhood conditions are antecedents of perceived benefits and costs and their overall satisfaction (see fig.3). Overall support for the implementation of PPT strategies from the members of chosen community can be expected in case that the positive effects and benefits outweigh the negative impacts (their own costs).

Jameson et al. (2004) point out that it often happens in practice, that the poor, who are recipients of tourism plans and strategies, are actually excluded from certain phases of PPT projects. They find such action incorrect and insist that the poor were seen as key units, which have to be engaged in all phases of policy planning and implementation. Effective participation of the poor can be enhanced for example by increasing of their understanding for tourism, developing their skills and abilities in small businesses in tourism or by researching the possibilities for developing cultural products, providing the inputs and ensuring the available markets. The challenge is to ensure their participation in the overall process, i.e also in decision making. Most of the important decisions affect them directly, so for sure they have a right to express their views and if necessary they should be able to influence final decision, which could negatively impact the quality of their life.

Location (availability of markets) Tourism facilities are not distributed evenly in Slovakia and a physical accessibility can restrict the access to PPT destination. That is why it is desirable to develop PPT destination within tourist centres. Such a pattern creates a primary assumption, that there will be interest in the developed PPT destination, which will simultaneously diversify the current market offer.

215 Availability of financial and physical capital In general, the poor are limited by owing no property and problems have to be overcome while sharing the common one. The creation of flexible access to the forms of social capital should be one of the partial goals, which can flowingly increase their potential involvement and participation.

Knowledge base (knowledge about how the tourism industry works) If the local people want to be able to control the development of their micro region as a tourist destination, they have to be equipped with basic education and skills. Attention has to be paid also to as important factors as language and understanding for coming tourist. In addition recent findings (in management, marketing, financial planning) can be taught by non-governmental organisations or private companies.

Donations and development agencies It is suitable to set a framework, which will allow engaging the donations and secure support from the large experienced businesses into the implementation of strategies focused on the poverty reduction. However, we have to remember that development assistance should be targeted primarily to development in marginalised areas through support for capacity building, infrastructure development and establishment of small and medium enterprises.

The existence of accessible and cooperative private sector Private sector builds and maintains a complex network of relations, including national and international tourism companies and number of local businesses. Every tourism business is directed by certain principles and practices. Some of them can be highly supportive of tourism as tool for poverty reduction, while

216 others do not share such approach in their agenda. Therefore, in considering the private sector, it is important to distinguish between the subjects of private sector not only in terms of ownership and activities at various geographic scales, but also in term of the nature of companies themselves. In some instances the company may see it as part of their responsibility to help alleviate poverty while others may try to direct their social responsibilities in other areas. (Jamieson et al. 2004:8). The way how companies manage their business affects the extent to which the poor receive the benefits from tourism. The private sector participating in PPT can enhance PPT by several activities and consequently increase benefits to the poor. For example, by maximizing the use of local suppliers and workforce, providing information, developing and sharing the access to infrastructure (transport communications, water supply), developing partnership with local people etc.

Support from various levels of government Jamieson at al. (2004) hold opinion that even poverty can be seen to be manifested as a local and individual problem, the national government policies have a significant influence on how tourism can be used as a tool for development. Governments can also play important role in poverty reduction through tourism by adopting effective actions and reducing barriers (e.g. their decisions to invest into infrastructure and marketing can stimulate the diffusion of tourism in poor areas). Local and regional governments also plays important role in poverty reduction but often through the implementation of national policies.

Support from the non-governmental organisations (NGO) Since tourism is associated with solving the problems of poverty, there are a number of NGOs, which may have significant impact on tourism development. Such organisations include for example rural development organization, groups

217 concerned with conservation of cultural and natural heritage and organizations dealing with business development issues. Important to us is the fact, that they have ability to help in funding of training activities, mediate business opportunities between the private sector and poor suppliers and also in the field of development processes, which strengthen the voice of the poor in developing and implementing PPT strategies. (Jamieson et al. 2004:8)

Effective marketing Effective marketing should facilitate the dissemination of information on existing PPT destination. Along with increasing consuming way of life, there is increasing number of tourists who are willing to improve the conditions of the destinations they visit. This fact should not be underestimated and tourist must be provided with opportunities to directly participate in the poverty reduction processes. Based on the factors above we can identify several stakeholders that will play key role in proper functioning of the PPT destination. Jamieson et al. (2004: 7-9) identified seven groups of key stakeholders (the poor, NGOs, private sector, government, humanitarian organisations (donations), and tourists (see figure 4).

Pro-poor tourism strategies

From year to year there is greater number of case studies providing practical experience in the field of strategies ensuring PPT to be even more intensively focused on helping the poor. Practical experiences have shown that to be able to bring benefits from tourism to the poor, it is necessary to plan a wide range of activities. In addition to key activities associated with developing enterprises and local capacities, it is essential to develop marketing activities, job opportunities, build links with the established private sector, respect policies and regulations,

218 ensure participation in decision making etc. It means that it is necessary to work across various levels and with various stakeholders. Researchers agreed that the focus and the scale of PPT interventions vary enormously from one private enterprise seeking to expand economic opportunities for the poor, to a national programmes enhancing participation by the poor at all levels (Ashley et al. 2001: viii). PTT strategies were divided into three broad groups (Roe, Urguhart. 2001:5; Ashley et al. 2001: 11): a) strategies expanding economic benefits for the poor; b) strategies addressing non-economic impact and c) strategies developing pro-poor policies/processes reform.

NGOs

Private Tourists sector (Consumers) (Suppliers)

The poor Members of MRC Governments International (National and organisations local) Donations, development agencies e.g. community centres

Figure 4: Key pro-poor tourism stakeholders Source: adopted and modified from Jamieson, Goodwin, Edmunds, 2004:7

219 The main objective of the PPT strategies focused on economic gains is to ensure that the tourism will generate profits for the poor. To achieve this, there were identified three key areas (ibid): expanding business opportunities for the poor, expanding employment opportunities for the poor and enhancing collective benefits. Within economic benefits, tourism can generate four different types of income for the local: wages from formal employment; earnings from selling goods, services, or casual labour (e.g. food, crafts, building materials, guide services); dividends and profits arising from locally-owned enterprises; and collective income, which may include profits from a community-run enterprise, dividends from a private sector partnership and land rental paid by an investor. The aim of the PPT, however, is not just the achievement of the commercial and economic benefits to the poor, but also takes into account environmental and ethical concerns. This concern involves the second group of PPT strategies (i.e. strategies addressing non-economic impacts on enhancing living standards). This group is aimed at capacity building, training and empowerment; mitigating the environmental impact of tourism on the poor; and addressing social and cultural impact of tourism (ibid). In achieving these objectives, a number of donor activities are used in tourism. The last group of strategies focused on policy/process reform include building a more supportive policy and planning framework; promoting participation and bringing the private sector into pro-poor partnership (ibid). Many of case studies show that sustainable success of the PPT projects requires close cooperation between the all stakeholders. Governments, private sector, industry associations, NGOs, community organisations, consumers, and all donors have a role to play. The cooperation and interventions focused on the benefits for the poor should be implemented not only on the level of destination (local level), but also on the level of regional and national policies. Actions

220 associated with the adoption of the strategies at a particular destination should address five priority issues (Bennett et al. 1999: 28): 1) Small and micro-tourism enterprises; 2) Linkages between tourism industry and local suppliers; 3) Employment of the poor; 4) Competition for natural resources – livelihood trade- offs; 5) Social and cultural impacts. At the local level, to achieve increased benefits, the proactive partnership should be developed between operators, local people and NGOs, and local authorities. Equally important is the need for local workers effectively cooperating with public and private sectors in planning, managing and developing of tourist attractions and experiences. Public administration should support small and micro businesses by supporting initiatives (favourable interest rates, trainings, non-financial services), create favourable conditions for common enterprising between communities and private businesses, and let them thrive. (Bennett et al. 1999). In conclusion, it is desirable to emphasize that the PPT actions should be developed to reduce negative impacts and costs of developing tourism. They should support the positive benefits from tourism to local communities and also to overall regional/ national economy. If we want to respond to challenges posed by and later on to talk about successful PPT projects, it is important that local authorities recognize tourism as an important component of planning processes and holistic management. The local authorities are expected to adopt planning processes and practices in tourism, which in general promote sustainable and to the poor oriented tourism. Moreover, for successful pro-poor tourism approach, strategies must be adapted to local conditions, target markets and interests of the poor; involvement of stakeholders must be based on the recognition of poor people as legitimate stakeholders, and pro-poor tourism product development must be linked with mainstream tourism products in region (PPT Partnership in. OSN.2005:18)

221 Summary

The paper aimed to raise awareness of PPT and to show that it is essential to pay attention to pro-poor tourism and reflect it as a possible way to solve critical Roma issue. The primary distinctive feature of PPT is that it puts the poor and poverty at the centre and tries to increase their net benefits from tourism. The success of PPT projects depends on properly designed and implemented strategies. The primary aim of PPT strategies is to ensure the participation of the poor in the industry, to increase benefits and to address non-economic factors that affect the development of their living standard. We should keep on the mind that all stakeholders in PPT are directly responsible for the result whether tourism will contribute to the long- term prosperity and quality life of target group. After that PPT can become a catalyst of the socioeconomic development. Many of case studies show that the success of PPT projects requires close cooperation between governments and private sector. To achieve increased benefits, the proactive partnership should be developed between operators, local people, NGOs and local authorities. Subsequently, appropriately formulated policies can ensure a broad sharing of benefits and minimizing unfavourable impacts. The primary aim of PPT is to reduce poverty in poor communities around the world. Such communities can be found also in Slovakia, since the members of the Roma minority live in marginalized settlements on the edges of towns. Social status of this minority is generally very low and they face a number of serious problems (e.g. concentrated poverty, poor socioeconomic conditions, marginalisation, low level of education, high unemployment rate, which has already became a generational problem, etc.). Such complex problem as the Roma issue is, needs to be dealt in depth so it could be achieved any positive results. PPT appears to be a suitable tool, which could help improve socioeconomic conditions

222 of these marginalised groups. PPT unlocks the opportunities of higher integration by supporting the Roma culture and accepting of their identity, and it has potential to eliminate social, economic and environmental problems. Efforts combining PPT and development of drawback Roma communities can bring a positive change to all areas of their lives – to education, employment, housing or social life. It creates new jobs and by engaging the members of target group (marginalised Roma people) into the whole process can raise their profitability and improve their living conditions. Although tourism cannot create job opportunities for all marginalised Roma people and it does not provide solution for the whole population of the problematic ethic group, also the convergence of the small group is a positive change and brings better prospects. Moreover, equally valuable is a contribution in the field of Roma culture restoration, strengthening of their identity and also developing better relations between majority and Roma minority living in one state.

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225 Zoltán Bujdosó56 – János Pénzes57

THE SPATIAL ASPECTS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE TOURISTIC DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES IN THE BORDER MICROREGIONS OF HUNGARY

Introduction

Almost one-third of the territory and 21.9 percent of the population of Hungary could be regarded as borderland in January 2009 (Figure 1). In general, these LAU-1 (former NUTS-4) microregions are backward areas in the light of the most important statistical indicators, because they are characterised by low population density and low level of enterprising spirit, significant out-migration and unfavourable income situation (Bujdosó et al. 2011).

Figure 1: Border microregions in Hungary (Source: edited by Bujdosó et al. 2011)

56 PhD, college professor, Károly Róbert College, Department of Tourism and Regional Development; e-mail: [email protected] 57 PhD, assistant professor, University of Debrecen, Department of Social Geography and Regional Development Planning; e-mail: [email protected]

226 Lots of ideas came to light in order to resolve the peripheral situation, but most of them remained unsuccessful. At the same time, tourism and tourism development were regarded as a possibility to break out in every concept (Süli- Zakar, I. et al. 1999, Dávid, L. – Baros, Z. 2007, Kozma, G. 2007). The Regional Operational Programmes (ROP) might be viable from the concepts due to the financial resources added to them. Two operational objectives were outlined within the priority of tourism; on the one hand, the prolongation of the touristic season, and on the other hand, the extension of the target areas of tourism (with the involvement of the less preferred settlements). The following preconceptions were composed on the basis of the previous statements: the touristic supports – according to the ROP objectives – concentrated on two fields, namely on the frequented touristic target areas and the less preferred territories. We had a threefold goal, as the analysis of the per capita touristic supports of the border microregions were aimed from territorial point of view besides the investigation of touristic competitiveness and the calculation of correlation between the touristic competitiveness and the distribution of touristic supports. The investigation of static and dynamic competitiveness was carried out (for the year 2008 and for the interval 2000–2008) using the Hoover index and correlation calculations. The database is from the HCSO TSTAR and the EMIR database.58

58 HSCO – Hungarian Central Statistical Office; EMIR (Egységes Monitoring and Információs Rendszer) – Unified Monitoring and Information System

227 Competitiveness in the border microregions

The international literature of regional competitiveness is expanded as a result of Michael Porter’s activity (see Porter, M. 1996; 1998; 1999). In the recent years, articles were published about touristic competitiveness (Schroeder, T. 1996; Enright, M. J. - Newton, J. 2004) but in the current study – in contradiction to their work – we mainly focus on the possibilities of measuring. In the last few years, remarkable studies appeared about the measuring possibilities of the concept of regional competitiveness in Hungary as well and we tried to utilize the results of these (Pénzes, et al., 2008). These studies represented the quantitative decomposition of the relative personal incomes into the adaptable and clear social-economic factors (Lengyel, I. 2000; Nemes Nagy, J. 2004). The method of decomposition was carried out by the study of József Nemes Nagy in order to investigate the competitiveness and its components of the border microregions. The multiplication became more easily treatable summary after the logarithmic transformation, using the formula below:

Income _ from _ accom mod ation _ fee Income _ from _ accom mod ation _ fee Tourism _ night Capacity log( ) = log( ) + log( ) + log( ) Population Tourism _ night Capacity Population

In our study, the total income from accommodation fee, the number of tourism nights and the capacity of the public accommodation establishments, and the number of population for the microregions were applied. The total income from accommodation fee per capita expresses the tourism development of microregions, the income from accommodation fee per tourism night refers to the effectiveness, the number of tourism nights per one bed of accommodation establishments means the occupancy rate of capacity and the number of accommodation establishments could provide reasonable estimation about the importance of tourism in the microregions.

228 The current typology was based on the relative values of microregions compared to the national average in the case of the specific income from accommodation fee and its three components. According to the definition of competitiveness, the microregions with above average income per capita level were regarded as advantageous and those with below average were classified as disadvantageous. If a given microregion represented an above average level by three of the income components then it was labelled with complex competitiveness. In the case of two or two components with above average, multi- factored advantage and single-factored advantage was pointed out. The concept of disadvantageousness was created by similar analogy.

Figure 2: Types of tourism competitiveness in the border microregions of Hungary, 2008. (Source: edited by Bujdosó et. al. 2011)

The map of border microregions represents the categories separated by the static analysis of competitiveness (Figure 2). Six microregions could be regarded as competitive in Hungarian comparison by the tourism, however five

229 microregions from this group are located in the western part of Hungary – the Gyula microregion constituted an exception. Complex touristic advantage could not be found in any of the border microregions, multi-factored advantage appeared in four cases and single-factored advantage was detected in two cases. Most of the microregions (43 microregions) were disadvantageous in this respect, complex disadvantage could be found in 29 microregions and multi-factored disadvantage was observed in 14 ones (Bujdosó et al., 2011).

Dynamic analysis was carried out in order to investigate the changes between 2000 and 2008. (This definition was applied by József Nemes Nagy in his study – Nemes Nagy, J. 2004) However, this kind of analysis cannot be regarded as dynamic in its terms, as only the data for the first and the last years are compared to each other instead of the investigation of the whole period.

Figure 3: Types of tourism competitiveness in the border microregions of Hungary, 2000-2008. (Source: edited by Bujdosó et. al. 2011)

230 It is clearly seen that the situation of the border microregions is not so unfavourable at all by the dynamic investigation, as it was discovered by the static analysis previously (Figure 3). More than half of the microregions represented better dynamism than the national average and these 27 microregions can be regarded as competitive. Complex advantage appeared in the case of five microregions and moreover only one is located in the western part of Hungary. Multi-factored advantage could be detected in 21 microregions and single-factored in one. Five microregions out of the 22 units with disadvantage were characterised by single-factored, 12 by multi-factored and five by complex disadvantage in the touristic competitiveness (Bujdosó et al., 2011).

The competitiveness of the Hungarian microregions and the spatial distribution of the touristic supports

Correlation calculation was the second phase of the current investigation between the competitiveness of the microregions and the distribution of the touristic supports. The aim of this survey was to discover the statistical relationship between these indicators. First of all, the distribution of the touristic supports was completed. The database of this analysis was based on the EMIR that contained the accepted touristic development supports of the NFT (National Development Plan), the ÚMFT (New Hungary National Development Plan) and the ÚSZT (New Széchenyi Development Plan). 59 The Gyula microregion – and the touristic developments of the town Gyula – received the largest amount of development support (more than one billion HUF) from the NFT between 2004 and 2006. More than half billion HUF financial support was approved in the case of the microregions of Csurgó, Tata, Baja, Szob,

59 These development plans fitted to the principles of the European supports in different financial periods (the New Széchenyi Development Plan launched by the Orbán Government in 2011).

231 Siklós and Esztergom. 12 border microregions did not receive any support during the period of NFT. Eleven microregions were missing on the list of the supported microregions during the ÚMFT and the highest total amount of developments reached 7 billion HUF. Each of the Szegedi, the Sopron-Fertődi, the Siklósi, the Edelényi, the Nyírbátori and the Mohácsi microregions received more than 2 billion HUF supports. The summarized supports per capita values of the two periods are illustrated by Figure 4. Polarized distribution of the resources can be seen that tends to represent significant spatial differences. Four border microregions had no kind of supports from these applications. Most of them are backward along the eastern border of Hungary (the Csengeri, the Hajdúhadházi and the Sarkadi microregions). However, at the same time, the largest values of support can be found in this part of the borderland (the Sátoraljaújhelyi, the Edelényi, the Gyulai, the Mórahalomi and the Szobi microregions).

Figure 4: The total value of the touristic supports per capita in the border microregions of Hungary, 2011, HUF (Source: edited by the authors)

232 The correlation calculation might discover the relationship between the types of competitiveness and the approved supports. The high level of correlation coefficient would primarily represent the dominance of developed microregions that might strengthen their touristic profile even more. This fact might mean the further increase of the significant level of inequalities. Weak-medium – and significant – correlation was calculated in the case of the touristic supports per capita and the categories of competitiveness (correlation coefficient = -0.42). The other indicators – in spite of the calculations – did not show significant coefficients.

Table 1: Border microregions categorized by the supports per capita and the types of static competitiveness (Source: edited by the authors) multi-factored single-factored multi-factored complex categories advantage advantage disadvantage disadvantage without Hajdúhadházi, – – Csengeri support Sarkadi, Sellyei Bajai, Balassagyarmati, Berettyóújfalui, Bodrogközi, Derecske- Létavértesi, Encsi, Kapuvár-Beledi, Fehérgyarmati, Kazincbarcikai, Győri, <20,000 – Mosonmagyaróvári Körmendi, Kiskunhalasi, Letenyei, Makói, Komáromi, Lenti Mátészalkai, Mezőkovácsházai, Nagykanizsai, Ózdi, Szentgotthárdi, Szombathelyi, Záhonyi Abaúj-Hegyközi, Esztergomi, Barcsi, Salgótarjáni, 20,000-40,000 Sopron-Fertődi – Szegedi, Szécsényi Vásárosnaményi Kőszegi, Csurgói, Mohácsi, 40,000-60,000 Tatai – Őriszentpéteri Nyírbátori Mórahalomi, >600,000 Gyulai, Szobi Siklósi Edelényi Sátoraljaújhelyi

233 The results of the correlation calculation between the total values of supports in each period separately tended to represent a weakening but negative correlation. The correlation between the approved supports during the NFT and the static categories of competitiveness showed a medium strong relationship (-0.53) that was weaker during the era of ÚMFT (-0.33). More competitive microregions received higher amount of development supports by these calculations, however the correlation became weaker between the two periods. The investigated microregions were categorized by the approved supports per capita and by the competitiveness besides the correlation-calculation. The unfavourable situation of the microregions with complex static disadvantage can be clearly seen in Table 1 as only one microregion – the Edelényi microregion – was in the highest category of supports. And what is more, this outstanding value appeared as a result of only one large-scale investment, namely the reconstruction of the L'Huillier-Coburg castle in Edelény (the total budget of the project amounted to 2.2 billion HUF) (http://edelenyikastelysziget.hu). 18 microregions with complex disadvantage belonged to the lowest category of per capita supports, while three similar microregions did not receive any kind of financial support. All of the four microregions with multi-factored static advantage received at least 20,000 HUF support per capita. The dynamical categories of competitiveness provide a more mosaic-like pattern than the previous categorisation (Table 2). Microregions with competitive advantage received financial support for their touristic developments. It is an interesting fact that most of the microregions with complex or multi-factored advantage were in a backward situation. The touristic dynamism of these microregions arose from the low level of basic data in 2000 however the developments of the touristic indicators by 2008 were not significant which is reflected by their moderate positions of static competitiveness. On the other hand,

234 the tourism of these peripheral territories can be characterised by the higher participation of inland tourists that are less sensitive to the economic recession than the foreign visitors. Tourism is highly responsive to the changes of the macroeconomic environment because the effect of the narrowing income of individuals and companies can be especially destructive on the touristic expenditures. The result of this negative process mainly affected the territories with developed tourism (e.g. by the absence of orders from the business sector) (ÁSZ 2010).

Table 2: Border microregions categorized by the supports per capita and the types of dynamic competitiveness (Source: edited by the authors) multi- single- single- complex multi-factored complex catego-ries factored factored factored advantage disadvantage disadvantage advantage advantage disadvantage without Hajdúhadházi, – – – Csengeri Sellyei support Sarkadi Berettyóúj- falui, Fehérgyar- Bácsalmási, mati, Bajai, Győri, Kiskunhalasi, Kapuvár- Komáromi, Balassagyar- Beledi, Bodrogközi, Kazincbarci- <20,000 Encsi Körmendi, mati, Ózdi, Letenyei, Derecske- kai Makói, Záhonyi Mezőkovács- Létavértesi, Mátészalkai, házai, Mosonma- Nagykanizsai, gyaróvári, Szentgotthárdi Lenti, Szombathelyi Abaúj- Esztergomi, 20,000- Hegyközi, Sopron- Barcsi, – Szécsényi – 40,000 Vásárosnam Fertődi, Salgótarjáni é-nyi Szegedi Nyírbátori, 40,000- Csurgói Őriszentpéte- – – Kőszegi Mohácsi 60,000 ri, Tatai Edelényi, Gyulai, >600,000 Mórahalomi Sátoraljaúj- – – – – helyi, Siklósi, Szobi

235 The current investigation contained the analysis of spatial inequalities of the approved supports by the Hoover-index. The Hoover-index is one of the most frequently applied methods to measure inequalities (for the detailed description of the method see Nemes Nagy, J. 2005) In order to calculate the index, the distribution of the summarised accepted supports (and personal incomes60) in the microregions and the population number were compared to each other. The results of the Hoover-index was extremely high

– hNFT=57.7% – for the period of NFT. This value decreased in the next – ÚMFT – period (hÚMFT=45.3%), however it is many times higher than the income inequality among the border microregions in 2010 (hINCOME=11.6). The results proved the more unequal and concentrated distribution of touristic supports, however the process of convergence tends to appear in time. These results are not in contradiction with the objectives of the Regional Operational Programme, but the flowing of the largest touristic supports into the most developed and competitive touristic microregions fulfilled only one part of the previously aimed principles. This process was more spectacular in the case of the NFT (this statement was confirmed by the study of the National Audit Office) (ÁSZ 2010).

Conclusions

The border microregions of Hungary can be regarded as heterogeneous from a touristic aspect and can be characterised by significant spatial disparities. These specific features were represented quantitatively by our static competitive analysis for 49 microregions and the characteristics became more detailed by the dynamic

60 The concept of income means the gross incomes confessed in the personal income tax which has been published by the PM-APEH (Ministry of Finance – Hungarian Tax and Financial Control Administration) (National Tax and Customs Administration from 2010) and the HCSO (Hungarian Central Statistical Office) since 1988.

236 analysis for the period between 2000 and 2008. The macroeconomic impacts affecting the touristic trends (terror attack in 2001, financial cutting downs in 2006, and the global economic recession from 2008) had negative influence mainly on the territories with developed tourism. Underdeveloped areas are primarily orientated towards the inland tourism and this fact with the low level of basic data resulted in larger dynamism in their case. The investigations carried out represented the concentration of supports during the NFT period with the flowing of resources into the microregions with developed tourism. This process caused pushing one of the operational objectives – the development of areas with underdeveloped tourism – into the background and the increase of inequalities. The homogeneity of supports did not decrease effectively by the end of the investigated ÚMFT period, but the concentration of resources preferring the developed areas partly melted. However, it has not still accomplished the determined objectives of the regional operational programme. The resource-absorption capacity of the underdeveloped microregions is much lower than in the developed ones and most part of the backward territories primarily concentrate on the development of basic physical and human infrastructure (Radics, Zs. – Pénzes, J. – Molnár, E. 2011). Calls for applications and the system of supports should be smaller scaled, should take the local characteristics into consideration and should compensate for the lack of local additional financial resources in order to effectively decrease the significant disparities among the microregions.

237

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