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Human Rights Entrepreneurship in Post-Socialist Hungary: from the 'Gypsy Human rights entrepreneurship in post-socialist Hungary: from the ‘Gypsy problem 5 to ‘Romani rights 5 A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Nidhi Trehan Department of Sociology London School of Economics and Political Science University of London July 2009 UMI Number: U615494 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U615494 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Libra! m i n t Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out joindy by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of the author. I warrant that this authorization does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. 2 ABSTRACT The thesis investigates the paradoxical developments and implications of the emerging Romani (Gypsy) civil rights movement in post-socialist Europe. Focusing on contemporary Hungary as a case study for the region, the research covers discursive and political frameworks on human rights, and critically analyses their multifaceted dimensions, including the role of human rights NGOs and INGOs and the moral entrepreneurs who run them. The research uses qualitative methods to investigate the activities of non-state actors and social agents which influence both Romani communities as well as state policy in Hungary vis-a-vis Roma. In Hungarian society, the complex discursive shifts on Romani people, from the ‘Gypsy problem’ to ‘Roma rights’ are key components of an emerging narrative of liberal human rights entrepreneurs engaged in creating a visible space for recognition of the rights of Roma. The research investigates how the public face of the ‘movement’ builds itself around claims of violence and oppression of Roma. It also reflects upon key strategies and technologies employed by the movement’s participants within Hungarian civil society. The co-existence of neoliberal human rights regimes of governance with emancipatory discourses indicates, paradoxically, the continuing (reproduction of racialised and other hierarchies within the movement itself which reinforce asymmetries of power within Hungarian society. Another primary finding is that in practice the movement has privileged the pursuit of civil liberties over socio-economic justice for Roma, and has, as a result, served to dislocate local Romani communities from decision-making structures. The thesis argues that ‘counterdiscourses’ to neoliberal human rights approaches are effectively marginalized, as particular ‘Roma rights’ frameworks have become impositions from outside the Romani communities, generating arenas of strategic instrumentalisation by elite participants. Subaltern Romani communities signal their awareness of these asymmetries of power, and show their resistance through a strategic display of ironic humour and attempts at epistemic disobedience. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The research presented here spans over eight years of my life (1998-2006) in which I have been a beneficiary of both financial and intellectual sustenance from numerous academic institutions, policy-making bodies, as well as non-governmental organisations where both professional research work and study have occupied my time. In the first instance, I would like to thank the Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. In particular, Prof. Stan Cohen stood by me on this long and lonely PhD journey, including all the various Trends in the road’, and has been a tremendous fount of patience along the way. My second supervisor Prof. Thomas Acton of University Greenwich offered me his indefatigable support, and has been my intellectual sparring partner since 1997, when I first started attending seminars organised by the London Romani Studies group. I would also like to thank Professors Paul Rock, Leslie Sklair, and Nicola Lacey who offered me their guidance and support in the early years of doctoral study, as well as Chaloka Beyani, Nicos Mouzelis, Richard Sennett and Anthony Smith whose seminars I benefited from tremendously. My thanks also go to friends and colleagues at LSE, including those of our student Praxis Society, whose emotional support and intellectual feedback was invaluable: Sarah Amsler, Mark Boden, Krisztina Csedo, Isabel Crowhurst, Mahmoud Delkhasteh, Nandita Dogra, Jessica Gunhammar, Gina Heathcote, Matti Kohonen, Mi Park, Farideh Sajjadi, and Scott Vrecko. I wish them well in their life journeys. My thanks also go to my examiners, Dr. Colin Clark and Dr. Kate Nash, both of whom provided excellent feedback and guidance during the viva process. In Budapest and elsewhere, there were numerous Hungarians, both Roma and non- Roma, who enriched my insights of the contemporary human rights scene in Hungary. I would in particular like to mention all my interviewees who participated in the research process, and thereby enriched my insights of the paradoxical nature of human rights in practice. As a witness to their on-going struggles, my life was indeed transformed. Crucially, I would like to thank all my ‘partners in crime’ — in the crime of seeking the truth about oppression and politics. Amongst these, I count Angela Kocze, Martin Kovats, Gregory Dufunia Kwiek, Tatjana Peric, Barbora Bukovska, Orhan Galjus, Nando Sigona, and last but not least Fiorina Zoltan, who, as a sister and a friend consistently brings to my attention the spectrum of violence Romani manusha continue to face to this day. I would like to thank Prof. Ian Hancock of the Texas Romani Archives, 4 who got me started on this journey back in 1994, and who continues to be a source of inspiration and interlocution. Te apes baxtalo Kako. In London, I would like to thank the ‘Highgate crew* for the Saturday brunches at Cafe longer. Harry, Liz, Jill and David. A very special thanks to Michael Walker for allowing me to colonize his living space during the final months of writing up, and a warm three cheers for my friends Dan Cohen, Orhan Demirovski, Michelle Wollstonecroft, Bhuvana Raman, and Percy Santos for their unwavering support during my final weeks of submission. At several key conferences and workshops across Europe, I had the pleasure of interacting and learning from many brilliant colleagues including Claudia Attucci, Stefan Bargheer, Hella Dietz, Natalia Leshchenko, Reikka Tovainnen, and Max Travers; they kindly read earlier drafts of my work and offered their feedback. I would like to thank the Ernst Cassirer Summer School in Human Rights (Helsinki, 2005) where I met colleagues who were engaged with human rights study from an enriching diversity of perspectives. I was the recipient of generous funding from several institutions along the PhD path: the LSE Department of Sociology, the University of London Central Research Fund, the Ann Lawson Trust, the Open Society Archives, the British Federation of Women’s Graduates Charitable Foundation, and the European Union’s Marie Curie Doctoral Fellowship at the University of Padova in 2005, Department of Sociology/Centre for Human Rights. I conducted my PhD part-time, and would also like to thank my employers: the Industrial Areas Foundation (Austin, Texas); the Centre for Forced Migration Studies and UNHCR (Skopje); the Royal Society for the Arts, Manufacturers, and Commerce (RSA) in London; and the LSE Careers Services Centre. Finally, and most importantly, I would like to offer my love and thanks to family and friends back home in both India and the US, whose patience has been tested beyond even what they could have imagined — thanks for being by my side always. Mom, Dad, Stu, DKT, Hiren, Gauri, Dhilan, and Priya, as well as the Patels, and Amina, Anuj, Blu, Brad, Heidi, Sarang, Vijay, and Vicki amongst many other dear friends. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT_______________________________________________________________________3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS__________________________________________________________4 TABLE OF CONTENTS____________________________________________________________6 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS_______________________________________________10 FIGURES & ILLUSTRATIONS_____________________________________________________12 PREFACE_______________________________________________________________________15 CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION_________________________________________________19 1.1 The problem of European anti-Gypsyism .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................19 The ‘civilizing mission’ of the Habsburgs ....................................................................................
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