Grassroots Roma Women Organizing for Social Change: A Study of the Impact of ‘Roma Women Student Gatherings’

Emilia Aiello, Jelen Amador-López, Ariadna Munté-Pascual and Teresa Sordé-Martí
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Emilia Aiello: Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Jelen Amador-López: CREA—Community of Research on Excellence for All, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Barcelona, 08007 Barcelona, Spain
Ariadna Munté-Pascual: Department of Social Work, Faculty of Education, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
Teresa Sordé-Martí: Department of Sociology, Faculty of Political Science and Sociology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 15, 1-19

Abstract: Scientific literature has focused on the constraints that Roma women have faced to overcome the racism and inequalities that they and the Roma people as a whole have suffered. However, less attention has been paid to how Roma women organize to challenge this reality. Drawing on a qualitative case study about the Roma Association of Women Drom Kotar Mestipen (Barcelona) and specifically on the analysis of one of its activities, the ‘Roma women student gatherings’ (known as ‘Trobades’ in Catalan), this article contributes evidence to show how Roma women are fighting to improve their own living conditions and those of their people by organizing at the grassroots level. The communicative analysis reveals the impacts that these gatherings have on the individual and societal levels. First, the gatherings have impacts on the individual level, as many of the women who participate in them are exposed to and embrace new educational projects, thus acquiring more skills to be better prepared to later access the labor market. Second, their impact is also evidenced on the societal level, as the gatherings enhance Roma women’s associational life, resulting in new mobilizations and often making women who were once in the shadows become community leaders.

Keywords: Roma women; inequalities; grassroots organizing; social inclusion; Roma feminism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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