Thesis (doctoral)--University of Gothenburg, 1980. / Added t.p. with thesis statement inserted. "Anthropological research." Includes bibliographical references (p. 383-393).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Hamburg, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 371-427).

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Hamburg, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 371-427).

Thesis--Uppsala. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-[173]).

This thesis examines the lives and experiences of relatively 'unknown' minority ethnic communities in Britain. As a group, they have been known by many names since their arrival in the 15th Century, although the most common one - and the one that has stuck - has been 'Gypsies'. This label, as the thesis demonstrates, is both historically and etymologically inaccurate, as well as being offensive to some of the people who are called a 'Gypsy'. Despite this, it is still the main label that features in the commentaries and literature that discuss this population. It is the aim of this thesis to get behind the headlines and sensationalism that surrounds 'Gypsy invasions', 'Gypsy scams' and 'Gypsy curses'. I aim to give a more factual and critical sociological and social policy account of who those persons known as 'Gypsies' are and how 'settled' Britain regards them This account produces five distinct parts to the thesis: Part 1 offers a critical overview of the context for the study and outlines the theoretical, conceptual and methodological approach that is taken during the course of the thesis (especially in relation to questions of ethnicity, ethnic identity, nomadism and the history of Gypsy stereotypes). This analysis is done by reviewing how Gypsies and other Travellers have been regarded in terms of 'race relations' and how they have been rendered, I argue, 'invisible' by the ethnic and racial studies academic community as well as by policy-makers. Part 2 provides a comprehensive account of who the main groups of Gypsies and Travellers are in Britain today. As is shown, they are not just one homogeneous group but several different groups who each have their own languages, lifestyles, cultures and ways of expressing their unique identities. To be sure, it is unhelpful and lazy to merely lump them together and speak of 'one' British Gypsy/Traveller population. Part 3 is specifically concerned with looking at how Gypsies and Travellers in England have been dealt with in terms of social! public policy and state services. The two main areas of investigation are sites (accommodation) and social security. However, these are not examined in isolation from the other social services as health, education and relationships with the Police are also critically assessed. Part 4 broadens the questions and issues out by taking into consideration the European context. Increasingly, what happens at a European Union (EU) level regarding Gypsies and Travellers has a direct bearing on how Britain chooses to view and treat Gypsies and Travellers. I examine the social, legal and 'racial' context of Europe and the main institutions in the EU and their stance on Gypsies and 'nomad populations'. I briefly offer a critical view on why it is that the EU only appears to be interested in Gypsies when discussing education issues. Part 5 is a general conclusion to the thesis and offers some final thoughts on the future for Gypsies and Travellers in Britain. It examines recent moves to try and steady the shaky legal ground that most Gypsies and Travellers currently occupy. This is most notably occurring through a revival of Romani lobbying and moves to bring about legal change. This section also summarises the main theoretical and policy implications of the thesis as a whole. The picture that emerges from the research is of a variety of Gypsy and Traveller families in Britain who are misunderstood, unheard and subject to a type of discrimination and prejudice that could be termed, specifically, 'anti-Gypsyism'. Such [gargos?] (non-Gypsies) who are largely part of this problem include those who work for local authorities, district councils, social security offices, health and education authorities, police forces, national/local newspapers and other such institutions and service providers. The 'problem', we shall see, is not so much Gypsies and Travellers themselves; it is the discrimination they face from settled society that is the real problem. Though only a small ethnic/nomadic minority group, and despite a degree of legal protection from the Race Relations Act of 1976, it is found that many barriers and hurdles are faced by groups known or perceived as 'Gypsies' and 'Travellers' when they attempt to gain access to the kinds of goods and services to which the majority of the settled [gargo?] population take for granted. In this sense, I argue that they constitute one of the least 'visible' and understood ethnic minority groupings in Britain today.

The research addresses the relevant contradictions of European Roma inclusion policy-making. The situation which many Roma in European societies experience nowadays combines deprivation and exclusion on the grounds of civil and political recognition, cultural identity and minority rights, and socio-economic justice in (re-)distributing resources. The recent European call for specific Roma-targeted policies is also articulated in these three discourses of inclusion, whether these policies should be based on their distinctive ethnic identity to be emancipated, legally- and politically-defined citizenship to be enforced, or socio-economic precariousness to be improved. Each of these three discourses addresses different type of inequalities; sometimes they can complement each other in promoting substantial equality, whereas at other times one politics of inclusion can reinforce the existing inequalities of another type. These domains are closely connected with and burden one another reciprocally – in the sense that better solutions of the problems of one domain can increase the problems in another and well-intended policies can thus turn into new forms of exclusion. The research confirmed the uncertainty among international policy-makers regarding what should serve as a conceptual base for European Roma inclusion policies. It furthermore traced a lack of attempts to reconcile the identities of passive service recipients and those of actively claiming citizens. It also revealed that most of the policies are designed within patron-client relationship where the benefits of patrons exceed the benefits of activated Roma. Finally, it proposes to recalibrate inclusion policies towards accentuating socio-economic rights and concludes that integration through-and-to low-skilled job does not meet the objective of inclusion.

Inaug.-diss.--Göttingen. / Lebenslauf. "Literaturverzeichnis": p. 141-153.

Inaug.-diss.--Göttingen. / Lebenslauf. "Literaturverzeichnis": p. 141-153.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Köln Universität, 1979. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 324-349).