Comparing European institutional and Hungarian approaches to Roma (Gypsy) minorities

The chapter analyses how Roma (Gypsy) minorities are discursively represented in documents from European institutions which are currently forming the most influential ‘public level’ arena for Roma politics. A comparison is made between the way social inclusion of Roma minorities is conceptualized in key European institutional documents, and the discourses from accession countries, such as Hungary, in the monitoring process. The ‘intercultural’ or ‘recognition’ approach taken by European institutions is criticized as failing to take into account and engage with the complex interface of differing discourses on ethnicity prevalent in post-socialist countries.