“It is all about territory”: A study of a segregated group of Roma in Rome, Italy

Abstract: On 25th July 2008 to 4th November 2011 the Italian government activated a state of emergency due to the presence of ‘nomadic encampments’ throughout the nation, leading to the current urbanising plan named ‘The Nomad Plan’. The main objective of this plan is to transfer 6,000 Roma into 13 authorised camps monitored by guards and 24h video-cameras, located outside Rome's perimeter. The purpose of this research, based on field work conducted in Rome, Italy from January to March of 2013, is to understand the segregation of a group of ex-Yugoslavian Roma. To do so, the aim of the essay is to analyse the relationship between Roma and social cooperatives. The latter are brokers between Roma and government, being outsourced NGOs providing service to include Roma groups into society. Fieldwork was based on interviews and two months' participant observation in a volunteer social service agency located near a Roma settlement. Significant issues that emerged from the research are the strengthening of territorial struggle and control between Roma families prompted by policies geared towards the building of leadership. Moreover, the thesis argues that the reinforcement of segregation is mostly due to Roma dependence on service given inside settlements. Lastly, humanitarianism is likely to be the main framework guiding social cooperatives' practice and discourse on Roma people in Italy.