{"id":1148,"date":"2014-10-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/08-10-2014-wolfgang-benz-the-return-of-enemy-stereotypes\/"},"modified":"2022-07-26T14:00:55","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T13:00:55","slug":"08-10-2014-wolfgang-benz-the-return-of-enemy-stereotypes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/08-10-2014-wolfgang-benz-the-return-of-enemy-stereotypes\/","title":{"rendered":"08.10.2014 Wolfgang Benz: \u201eThe return of enemy stereotypes\u201c"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" class=\"MsoNormal\">The German historian and  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tresearcher on prejudices Wolfgang Benz has published a new book in which he thoroughly  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tinvestigates the mechanisms of prejudices towards Rroma. Benz tries to  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcomprehend the reasons for the emergence and adherence of the negative  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstereotypes, which are consciously instrumentalised politically by various  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tprotagonists. In his article for the Tagesspiegel, he conveys the most  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\timportant theses of his book. Part of these are self-appointed experts, who  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tblame Rroma living in misery for their own fate, by playing off liberal  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tself-reliance against societal injustices: <em>\u201eSinti  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand Roma are rejected and despised, because they are poor, are regarded as placeless  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand without culture. Cherished through fears of foreign domination, enemy  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstereotypes are being reactivated. Self-appointed experts argue that they have to  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tblame themselves for their misery in Slovakia, in Hungary, in the Czech  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRepublic, Bulgaria, and Rumania or Serbia and the Kosovo. The situation of the  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRoma in Southeast Europe has become a tourist attraction, topic of hypocritical  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsensitive reports, which are being created with the point of view of master men  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u2013 and confirm the majority in their rejection of the minority. Roma-foes call  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe object of their interest unashamed once more \u201cZigeuner\u201d, even though (or  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbecause) it is hurtful. By the use of generalisations, fears are fuelled, and  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdubious knowledge about Sinti and Roma is spread, fears are evoked, which  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tallegedly threaten us. The unpleasant characteristics, which are projected  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsweepingly on all Roma from Southeast Europe, are welcomed reasons for  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdiscrimination. Immigrants from Bulgaria and Romania are seen as the  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tincarnation of a threat, which is usually equated with Sinti and Roma. The  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttraditional stereotypes of the \u201cgypsy\u201d have sowed the seeds for generations,  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe new images of the slums from which they come, and the poverty in which they  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tlive, are seamlessly compatible. [&#8230;] Xenophobia, racism, petty-bourgeois fears  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfor their property and identity weaknesses condense into an enemy image of  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpoverty migrants, whose feared attack on social funds, bourgeois order and the German  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tway of life must be resisted. Right-wing populists and -extremists benefit from  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tit, and operate their enemy image with success \u2013 in the middle of society.\u201d <\/em>The  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tperpetuation of prejudices has become a vicious circle which is difficult to  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbreak. A possible way out is a public, media-catchy discussion of the integrated  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma, the \u201cinvisible Rroma\u201d. However, many of these integrated Rroma keep  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttheir identity a secret, for fear of discrimination among friends and  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcolleagues, at work or in the housing market. Here again, there exists a vicious  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcircle of legitimate fears that cannot be so easily overcome (compare Benz  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2014). <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Benz, Wolfgang (2014) Die R\u00fcckkehr der  \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFeindbilder. In: <em style=\"font-family: Arial;\">Der Tagesspiegel online<\/em> vom 7.10.2014. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tagesspiegel.de\/wissen\/rassismus-gegenueber-sinti-und-roma-die-rueckkehr-der-feindbilder\/10805514.html\" style=\"font-family: Arial;\">http:\/\/www.tagesspiegel.de\/wissen\/rassismus-gegenueber-sinti-und-roma-die-rueckkehr-der-feindbilder\/10805514.html<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The German historian and researcher on prejudices Wolfgang Benz has published a new book in which he thoroughly investigates the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[601,602,599,611,14,15,605,606,598],"tags":[92,63,24,23,133],"class_list":["post-1148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bulgaria","category-czech","category-hungary","category-kosovo","category-news-eastern-europe","category-news-western-europe","category-romania","category-serbia","category-slovakia","tag-discrimination","tag-racism","tag-roma","tag-rroma","tag-stereotypes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1148"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11005,"href":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1148\/revisions\/11005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}