Applying International and European Anti-Discrimination Law to the Housing Context


Book Description

This is the first study of anti-discrimination law as it applies to housing law in Europe. It offers an important perspective in a field dominated by employment law studies, while drawing on concepts significant in that field as well. Legislative discussion looks at EU law, the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Social Charter and related case law. The book goes further to examine United Nations human rights instruments and related practice of UN committees. This unique focus allows for a fuller understanding of anti-discrimination law's implications, potential, and challenges.




The fringes of citizenship


Book Description

This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. This book presents a socio-legal enquiry into the civic marginalisation of Roma in Europe. Instead of looking only at Roma’s position as migrants, an ethnic minority or a socio-economically disadvantage group, it considers them as European citizens, questioning why they are typically used to describe exceptionalities of citizenship in developed liberal democracies rather than as evidence for how problematic the conceptualisation of citizenship is at its core. Developing novel theoretical concepts, such as the fringes of citizenship and the invisible edges of citizenship, the book investigates a variety of topics around citizenship, including migration and free movement, statelessness and school segregation, as well as how marginalised minorities respond to such predicaments. It argues that while Roma are unique as a minority, the treatment that marginalises them is not. This is demonstrated by comparing their position to that of other marginalised minorities around the globe.




Queer Roma


Book Description

This book offers in-depth insight into the lives of queer Roma, thus providing rich evidence of the heterogeneity of Roma. The lived experiences of queer Roma, which are very diverse regionally and otherwise, pose a fundamental challenge to one-dimensional, negative misrepresentations of Roma as homophobic and antithetical to European and Western modernity. The book platforms Romani agency and voices in an original and novel way. This enables the reader to feel the individuals behind the data, which detail stories of rejection by Romani families and communities, and non-Romani communities; and unfamiliar, ground-breaking stories of acceptance by Romani families and communities. Combining intersectionality with queer theory innovatively and applying it to Romani Studies, the author supports her arguments with data illustrating how the identities of queer Roma are shaped by antigypsyism and its intersections with homophobia and transphobia. Thanks to its theoretical and empirical content, and its location within a book series on LGBTIQ lives that appeals to an international audience, this authoritative book will appeal to a wide range of readers. It will a be useful resource for libraries, community and social service workers, third-sector Romani and LGBTIQ organisations, activists and policymakers; an invaluable source of information for scholars, teachers and students of bigger modules in undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate courses in a cross section of academic disciplines and subject areas. These include, but are not limited to, LGBTIQ/Queer Studies; Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies; Romani Studies; Sociology; Anthropology; Human Geography; Area Studies; Cultural Studies; Social Movement Studies; Media Studies; Psychology; Heath Science; Social Science; Political Science.




Roma in the Republic of Macedonia: Challenges and Inequalities in Housing, Education and Health


Book Description

The Republic of Macedonia’s Roma population is still the most vulnerable minority in the country, a community that faces both institutional marginalization and social prejudice. This briefing, drawing on the first-hand accounts gathered by Roma mediators working with their communities, provides crucial insights into their daily lives and the difficulties they continue to face. Despite official recognition, Roma remain excluded from mainstream society and experience discrimination in almost every aspect of their lives, beginning at school and continuing into adult life, with the majority of Roma unable to obtain formal employment. As a result, many Roma live in substandard living conditions, often struggling with overcrowding and without access to basic services. Roma in the Republic of Macedonia: Challenges and Inequalities in Housing, Education and Health outlines the range of challenges the country's Roma still face and includes a series of recommendations on how their situation can be improved. These include a more inclusive approach to service provision, greater awareness of the specific barriers experienced by the community and an emphasis on targeted strategies to address these disparities. The briefing is available in English, Macedonian, Romani and Albanian.




Civic Space Scan of Finland


Book Description

At the global level, civic space is narrowing and thus efforts to protect and promote it are more important than ever. The OECD defines Civic Space as the set of legal, policy, institutional, and practical conditions necessary for non-governmental actors to access information, express themselves, associate, organise, and participate in public life. This document presents the Civic Space Scan of Finland, which was undertaken at the request of the Finnish government and is the first OECD report of its kind. OECD Civic Space Scans in particular assess how governments protect and promote civic space in each national context and propose ways to strengthen existing frameworks and practices. The Scan assesses four key dimensions of civic space: civic freedoms and rights, media freedoms and digital rights, the enabling environment for civil society organisations, and civic participation in policy and decision making. Each respective chapter of the report contains actionable recommendations for the Government of Finland. As part of the scan process, a citizens' panel - also overseen by the OECD - was held in February 2021 and generated a wide range of recommendations for the government from a representative microcosm of Finnish society.




Europeanization and Minority Political Agency


Book Description

Zsuzsa Csergö is Associate Professor and Head of the Political Studies Department at Queen’s University in Canada. She is also the President of the Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN). Her research addresses questions of nationalism, democratization, and the influence of EU integration on state-minority relations in post-Cold War Europe. Ada-Charlotte Regelmann is a Project Manager at Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, focusing on the social inclusion of marginalised groups in European societies. Previously, she was a lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast, UK, and Maynooth University, Ireland. Her research explores the impact of Europeanisation on nation-state-building and social integration in post-communist Europe.




Financing Roma Inclusion with European Structural Funds


Book Description

This book provides an analysis of the highly politicized field of Roma inclusion and addresses the controversies surrounding the effectiveness of funding initiatives derived from European Cohesion Policy. It confronts the widely held notion that European financial transfers (Structural Funds) are highly suitable instruments to address the systemic causes of poverty and to facilitate changes towards substantive equality for Europe’s largest ethnic minority. Shedding critical light on the Structural Funds programme, it offers an innovative approach to thinking about the value of European funding schemes and efficacy of national Roma inclusion strategies. Multidisciplinary in approach, it draws on rich interview material and literature from fields including policy implementation, new public governance, equality studies, and political representation, Financing Roma Inclusion with European Structural Funds examines the implementation of European funding in Spain and Slovakia, two countries with contrasting policy outputs, and offers a nuanced picture of the way European Cohesion Policy interacts with intricacies of domestic policy-making. It thus sheds light on the key challenges facing Roma inclusion strategies in contemporary Europe and will be of interest for for scholars interested in European studies, equality policy, new public governance and minority studies.




OECD Economic Surveys: Bulgaria 2021 Economic Assessment


Book Description

The COVID-19 outbreak abruptly stopped several years of robust economic growth in Bulgaria. Public finances are sound and the government took rapid action to support firms and households. Coping with the pandemic and strengthening the recovery will require continued fiscal support, public investment and the advancement of priority reforms.




Promoting and Protecting Minority Rights


Book Description

"The present guide offers information related to norms and mechanisms developed to protect the rights of persons belonging to national, ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities. It includes detailed information about procedures and forums in which minority issues may be raised to minorities and by also covering selected specialized agencies and regional mechanisms, the present Guide complements information contained in Working with the United Nations Human Rights Programme: A Handbook for Civil Society"--Introduction.




Segregation of Roma Children in Education


Book Description

In Segregation of Roma Children in Education, Sina Van den Bogaert examines, from the perspective of public international law, how the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (Council of Europe) and the Racial Equality Directive 2000/43/EC (European Union) have contributed towards desegregation of Roma children in education in Europe. The fields of application ratione personae and ratione materiae of both instruments are discussed, as well as their "added value". Sina Van den Bogaert demonstrates that the Framework Convention and the Racial Equality Directive are complementary instruments and formulates useful suggestions for a more effective monitoring and implementation of both instruments in the field of Roma education. This book is the first and only comprehensive scholarly treatment in public international law of the still widespread phenomenon of segregation of Roma children in education.