Several critiques were already aimed at the newly created European Roma Institute, especially. Yaron Matras, a renowned linguist and Rroma specialist led the charge: It already questions the “Roma led” side of the initiative; lobs a few well aimed barbs at the “Roma Decade” also initiated in part by the Open Society Foundations and a de facto failure; but mostly fears that such an institute would prevent free academic research, as people who were meant to be part of the ERI, openly criticised the fact that research so far has been devoid of Rroma input and scholars, and is thus biased.
We can side with the concerns of the academics, as such an institute can easily turn into a watchdog for political correctness, on the other hand, we have to side with the ERI, saying that many scholar writing on Rroma wrote fairly idiotic thing too, and in total impunity. This is not to say that all research is bad, but it is often very limited (a small group in a specific country), and perpetuates fake research such as the one from Wlysslocky, a 19th century “scholar” who wrote totally inept facts but is still cited by all scholars…
So let’s hope and see!
- EU initiative risks turning Roma into entertainers, not real people with human rights. In: The Conversation. 15.04.2015. http://theconversation.com/eu-initiative-risks-turning-roma-into-entertainers-not-real-people-with-human-rights-40100
- Republished in Scroll In. http://scroll.in/article/720760/An-EU-initiative-risks-turning-Roma-into-entertainers,-not-real-people-with-human-rights
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