Transferability of Successful Educational Actions of the Roma Women to the plural European Contexts

Abstract

The Romani Women’s Association Drom Kotar Mestipen (DKM) was at the centre of this academic investigation. The association is based in Barcelona, Catalonia and their approach to engaging with Roma women and advocating for gender equality using Successful Educational Actions, and understanding, if their methodology could have a positive impact on Roma women from other EU countries, was at the core of this thesis. The goal of the research was twofold: to identify the DKM’s methodology and to understand if this egalitarian methodology was transferable to other contexts and allowed the “other women” to participate in dialogic conversations where Romani feminist discourse was at the centre. In this instance, I selected five different European countries that each had an established Roma population and worked alongside organisations and other grassroots Roma women, and I attempted to discern the exclusionary practices that Roma women and youth face in those countries. After better understanding those barriers, the application of the DKM methodology was inserted and then an analysis of the outcomes of applying the dialogic methodology took place. This thesis has outlined the gaps that exist within Feminist and Roma Studies in relation to the inclusion of grassroots Roma women and girls and highlights the ability that the community has to approach their problems from an intersectional perspective, identify the barriers that impede their active participation and also identified the transformation many of the participants experienced as a result of applying the DKM’s methodology to their living and working environment. Employing Communicative Methodology facilitated my working alongside the participants, resulting in this academic study to directly reflect their voices. In summary, the women and organisations interviewed, are helping to construct a narrative that is tackling covert and overt racism.