Roma discrimination in Europe : an investigation using the analytical framework of Zygmunt Bauman

Abstract: This paper investigates the discriminatory situation of Romas in contemporary Europe with the use of Zygmunt Bauman’s analytical framework he developed on the situation of Jews and the Holocaust. Characteristics of the Modern Society have, according to Bauman, created opportunities for cornerstones of discrimination to occur and together with facilitators they can hold the discrimination alive and make it long lasting. In the case Bauman examined, it all ended in genocide. With the aim to investigate how Bauman’s analytical framework would explain why Roma discrimination could continue and by using a qualitative method of text substance analysis of foremost academic articles, the situation of the Romas are presented in a code according to the concepts in a scheme of Bauman’s analytical framework. There is no genocide going on today against Romas, but when looking through the glasses of Bauman and implementing his analytical framework on the Roma situation, only one stone is missing for it to happen. This paper concludes that there are no reasons to deny that a new Holocaust can happen in the modern society of Europe, but this time with another minority group as victims. Racism seems to be there, the only missing element is a stronger belief in racial hierarchy. This paper also offers an analytical scheme for future studies on other groups that have been suffering of long lasting discrimination, to further emphasize how Bauman’s framework would be able to become generalized on discrimination.