ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the contemporary spread of anti-Gypsyism in a neoliberal Europe and explores the link between the racial criminalization of the Roma and discriminatory policy and practice. It discusses the impact of neoliberal policies on the socio-economic situation of Roma in Europe, the growing impoverishment of Romani communities and the virulent rise and spread of anti-Gypsyism in the context of the collapse of the Soviet Union and its satellite states, along with the concomitant crisis of European socialism. The chapter outlines the institutional responses to these phenomena and their rationale, in particular the fear of Romani westward migration, and the emergence and salience of minority and human rights frameworks, as well as their limitations. It looks at the spaces of political participation for Romani communities in the context of the critique of the racialization of political spaces and the (re)criminalization of Roma presently occurring in Europe.
