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Oxford Brookes University RADAR Research Archive and Digital Asset Repository Ethnography of the 'gypsy problem' in Italy: The case of Kosovo Roma and Ashkali in Florence and Venice Ferdinando Sigona (2009) https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/6711d380-64ea-4dfe-b3b6-84ecd993d40e/1/ Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this work, the full bibliographic details must be given as follows: Sigona, F (2009) Ethnography of the 'gypsy problem' in Italy: The case of Kosovo Roma and Ashkali in Florence and Venice PhD, Oxford Brookes University WWW.BROOKES.AC.UK/GO/RADAR Oxford Brookes University Ethnography of the 'Gypsy problem' in Italy The case of Kosovo Roma and Ashkali in Florence and Venice Ferdinanda Sigona November 2009 Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the award of Doctor of Philosophy IMAGING SERVICES NORTH Boston Spa, Wetherby West Yorkshire, LS23 7BQ www.bl.uk ANY MAPS, PAGES, TABLES, FIGURES, GRAPHS OR PHOTOGRAPHS, MISSING FROM THIS DIGITAL COPY, HAVE BEEN EXCLUDED AT THE REQUEST OF THE UNIVERSITY Abstract Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted with Kosovo Romani (i.e. Roma and Ashkali) forced migrants, NGO workers and volunteers, local politicians and city councillors, civil servants and social workers in Florence and Venice, this thesis examines the complex interplay between discourses, policies, and practices which contribute to the definition of the Romani population as a social and political 'problem' in Italy. The thesis traces a genealogy of current Italian policies toward Italian and foreign Romani people, which provides the background for investigating how, and to what extent, Kosovo Roma and Ashkali forced migrants are, discursively and socially, constructed as a part of the broader 'Gypsy problem' (rather than as 'refugees') and the implications this framing has on their everyday lives, experiences, and coping strategies. The thesis also shows that the 'Gypsy problem' is time- and space- specific, and assumes different configurations in Florence and Venice. These are a product of the Italian 'municipalist' political tradition and decentralised administrative structure, as well as of different understandings, approaches, agendas, and actions of local politicians, civil servants and front line bureaucrats. The examination of the dominant discourse on 'Gypsies' also reveals a strong culturalist bias centred on the idea of the Romani population as inherently nomadic. This characterisation, it is argued in the study, has important policy implications. By framing the Romani population in this way, not only has it become possible for Italian authorities to legitimise the rejection of well-founded claims from Romani displaced people for humanitarian protection; they have also been able to refuse newcomers opportunities for permanent settlement, and to develop and implement public policy which has contributed to the spatial and social segregation of these communities. 2 The so-called 'nomad camps', an important product of this culturalist logic, epitomise this chain of processes and form a privileged analytical standpoint from which to examine the 'Gypsy problem' in Italy. 3 Table of Contents ABSTRACT 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 TABLE OF FIGURES 8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 9 INTRODUCTION TO THE THESIS 11 BACKGROUND 11 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 14 OUTLINE OF THE THESIS 17 PART I. FOUNDATIONS 20 CHAPTER ONE. FROM KOSOVO, YUGOSLAVIA 21 INTRODUCTION 21 YUGOSLAV ISM, NATIONALISM AND MINORITY POLITICS IN POST WORLD WAR II YUGOSLAVIA 23 SERBS, ALBANIANS AND THE OTHERS IN KOSOvO: HISTORY AS A MYTH AND EXPERIENCE 27 ROMA, AsHKALI AND BALKAN EGYPTIANS IN KosovO BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THE 1999 WAR 29 Before 30 During the war: battling truths 33 After 36 PUBLIC IDENTITIES AND SURVIVAL STRATEGIES: ROMA, AsHKALI, AND BALKAN EGYPTIANS IN DIVIDED Kosovo 38 CONCLUSION 41 CHAPTER TWO. LABELLING, POLICY AND IDENTITY 43 INTRODUCTION 43 Labelling: a background 45 SEEING LIKE A STATE: LABELLING AS STATE POWER 47 Labelling, framing, discourse, and power 47 The institutionalisation of labels: politiCS in policy process 51 The discursive construction of social and policy problems 53 THE SUBJECT AS A SOCIAL ACTOR 57 Bureaucratic practices and the making of the subject 57 The agency of the social actor 63 PLACING THE SUBJECT, PLACING POWER 66 Questioning identity 67 The spatial dimension of social interactions 68 CONCLUSION 71 4 CHAPTER THREE. AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE 'GYPSY PROBLEM' 74 INTRODUCTION 74 EPISTEMOLOGICAL STANDPOINT 75 DOING AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF A POLICY COMMUNITY 78 Rethinking the 1ield': studying down, studying up, studying through 78 Fieldwork encounters: methods for an ethnography of a 'policy community' 81 Doing Interviews 83 Participant observation 85 Analysing data 85 MATTERS OF LOCATIONS AND COMPARABILITY 86 RESEARCHING WITH, ON, FOR REFUGEES (AND ROMAI 88 MATTERS OF RESEARCHER POSITIONAlITY 91 CONCLUSION 93 PART II. 'NOMADS' AND NOMAD CAMPS IN ITALY 95 CHAPTER FOUR. THE MAKING OF THE 'GYPSY PROBLEM' 96 INTRODUCTION 96 'NOMADS' IN ITALY 98 The 'discovery' of Roma and Sinti 99 Regional laws 'in favour of' Roma and Sinti 103 'REFUGEES' AND/OR 'NOMADS' 109 Seeking asylum in Italy 110 Roma and Ashkali forced migrants in Italy 114 CONCLUSION 116 CHAPTER FIVE. NOMAD CAMPS: A GEOGRAPHY AND A GENEALOGY 118 INTRODUCTION 118 'NOMAD CAMP': A GENEALOGY 120 The root causes of the 'problem' 122 NOMAD CAMPS IN ITALY TODAY 126 BEYOND NOMAD CAMPS 129 CONClUSION 132 PART III. THE ROMA AND THE 'GYPSY PROBLEM' IN VENICE AND FLORENCE 136 CHAPTER SIX. VENICE 137 INTRODUCTION 137 ROMA AND SINTI IN VENICE BEFORE THE Kosovo CRISIS 137 THE ARRIVAL OF ROMA AND AsHKAlI REFUGEES FROM Kosovo IN THE LATE 1990s 144 No MORE CAMPS FOR ROMA 147 Clasing dawn the camps: translating an idea into policy 147 5 Institutional arrangements and the implementation of the strategy: dispersal, the Italian way. 151 CONCLUSION 160 CHAPTER SEVEN. FLORENCE 163 INTRODUCTION 163 ROMA AND SINTIIN FLORENCE BEFORE THE Kosovo CRISIS 163 The 'discovery' of the Roma 163 Poderaccio and Dlmatel/o: a tale of two camps 169 Census, quotas and changing labels 172 THE ARRIVAL OF ROMA AND AsHKALI REFUGEES FROM KOsovo IN THE LATE 1990s 175 NO MORE CAMPS FOR ROMA 178 'Spreading the burden' and/or 'closing down the camps': different routes to resettlement 178 Institutional arrangements and the implementation of the 'Progetto Regionale' 185 CONCLUSION 191 CHAPTER EIGHT. VENICE AND FLORENCE: SOME COMPARATIVE NOTES 194 INTRODUCTION 194 GROUNDS FOR COMPARISON 194 THE 'DISCOVERY' OF THE ROMA 196 THE ARRIVALS FROM Kosovo IN 1999 200 CONCLUSION 204 PART IV. ETHNOGRAPHIC GAZE 206 CHAPTER NINE: THE AGENCY OF SOCIAL ACTORS 207 INTRODUCTION 207 VISIONS, POLICY, AND PRACTICE 208 Through the eyes of social workers 209 Dealing with the (more powerful) visions of others 216 Adapting and resisting 216 Invisibility and visibility 217 UNMAPPED TERRITORIES 221 Room for manoeuvre 222 Human resources 225 Experiments and errors 227 CONCLUSION 229 CHAPTER TEN. CAMPS AND 'CAMPZENS': THE SPATIAL, THE SOCIAL, AND THE POLITICAL 232 INTRODUCTION 232 CAMPS AND VISIONS 236 CAMPS AND THEIR INHABITANTS 240 6 Accounts of everyday life 241 Adapting to and embodying the camp 243 CAMPZENSHIP: NOMAD CAMPS AND CITIZENSHIP 245 Protection, recognition, and anomymity 245 Exit strategies and the legacy of the camp 250 CONCLUSION 254 CHAPTER ELEVEN. CONCLUSION 257 INTRODUCTION 257 CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE 259 Defining the Roma and the problem: labelling, framing, and policy making 259 Performing the state: the agency of bureaucrats 260 Adapting, adjusting, resisting: the agency of Roma and Ashkali 261 The camp: technology of power and lived space 262 'Campzenship' as a form of segmented and situated citizenship 263 AREAS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 264 Kosovo Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians (RAE) in Post-Independence Kosovo: State building and the 'other minorities' issue 264 Romani mobilities and political mobilisation in Contemporary Europe 265 Ethnographic studies of camp and camp-like institutions 266 Anthropology of legal status 266 CODA 267 BIBLIOGRAPHY 268 RElEVANT NATIONAL LEGISLATION 297 7 Table of Figures FIGURE 1: flORENCE, MARSHAL TITO IN THE OLMATElLO CAMP. 22 FIGURE 2: 'INTERIOR OF A GYPSY Hur, PREDARI1841. 97 FIGURE 3: REGIONAL LAWS IN DEFENCE OF ROMA AND SINTI 104 FIGURE 4: ASYLUM APPLICATIONS IN ITALY 1991-2001 114 FIGURE 5: AREAL VIEW OF THE 'VILLAGGIO 01 SOLIDARIETA' THE ROME LOCAL AUTHORITY CAMP IN THE REMOTE SITE OF CASTEL ROMANO, BUILT FOR ROMA PREVIOUSLY RESIDENT IN FORMAL AND INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS IN TOWN (2007). 134 FIGURE 6: LOCATION OF SAN GIULIANO AND ZELARINO CAMPSITES, VENICE. 143 FIGURE 7: SUMMARY TABLE OF THE MILA PROJECT 154 FIGURE 8 MAP OF THE DISPERSAL IN VENICE AND SURROUNDINGS 157 FIGURE 9: LOCATIONS OF MAIN ROMANI SETTLEMENTS IN flORENCE 168 FIGURE 10: PHOTOS OF CAMPSITES IN flORENCE. 171 FIGURE l1:MAP OF DISPERSAL IN TUSCANY THROUGH 'PROGETTO REGIONALE ROM' 188 8 Acknowledgments It has taken far longer than I initially planned to write this thesis. Inevitably, the longer the time, the longer the list of people to acknowledge, and the easier it is to forget someone. Of these people, some have accompanied me throughout the whole process, others for a part of it. First and foremost, I wish to thank my Director of Study, Professor Roger Zetter, for his continuous intellectual engagement with my work, encouragement (he could see the end of the tunnel before than I could), and academic and human guidance. A special thank also to my second supervisor Dr Maja Cederberg, for her academic advice and human friendship. I also wish to thank Dr Rutvica Andrijasevic and Dr David Griffiths, who at earlier stages of the work gave me valuable feedback.
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