Andras Tapolcai
Institution: Eotvos Lorand University, Institute of Sociology,
Budapest.
Consultant: Professor Terry Williams, Sociology Department, and
Professor Elzbieta Matynia, Committee on Liberal Studies
Advisor: Professors Antal Orkeny and Gyorgy Csepeli, Institute
of Sociology, Eotvos Lorand University.
Race and Ethnicity in Theory and Methodology: The Case of the Roma in Hungary
This course will attempt to achieve a better understanding of the current (declining) political, social and economic situation of the Romani people (better known as "Gypsies") in Hungary and, with certain generalizations, in East-Central Europe. The seminar will be unique in the Hungarian university curriculum as it attempts to combine theoretical conceptualizations on race and ethnicity with ethnographic methodological approaches and actual engagement in ethnographic fieldwork. Students will be encouraged to conduct fieldwork among Romani communities in urban or rural settings.
The introductory sessions will be devoted to theoretical discussions on the historical development of different (explicit and implicit) concepts of racial and ethnic "otherness" as well as critical theoretical approaches to those conceptualizations (e.g., Cornel West, Oliver Cox, Angela Davis, Bell Hooks {"bell hooks"}, Frantz Fanon, etc.). In the second part of the course, various methodological works on ethnographic fieldwork as well as actual fieldwork reports and publications will be discussed with special emphasis placed on the role of ethnographers conducting research among ethnic minority groups. Readings will include, among others, John van Maanen, Michel Foucault, Clifford Geertz, Terry Williams, and Elijah Anderson. By the end of this section of the course (the end of the third-fourth week), students who would like to conduct ethnographic work will be required to locate their research sites and launch their fieldwork.
The third part of the course will be devoted to contrasting the ongoing projects with various works on the history and culture of the Roma as well as recent sociological and ethnographic accounts by scholars conducting research among the Roma in Hungary or other countries. Authors will include, among others, Ian Hancock, Jan Yoors, Pierre Liegois, Jean-Paul Clebert, Diane Tong, William Lockwood, and Carol Silverman for the historic-cultural part, and Agnes Diosi, Peter Szuhay, Jeno Zsigo, Zsolt Csalog, Nicolae Gheorghe, Andrzej Mirga, Anne Sutherland, Rena Gropper, David J. Nemeth, Michael Stewart, Matt Salo, and Sheila Salo for the sociological-ethnographic dimension. Discussing the prospects regarding the future of Romani communities in Hungary and other countries, particular emphasis will be placed on the role of the state and its social policies. Various guest lecturers will be invited to inform students about their ongoing work and research related to the Roma.
Students will be required to read all assigned materials, participate in class discussions and write a final research paper. The topic of the final paper must be an account of the fieldwork the student conducted or related to the issues addressed in the course.
