Jekatyerina Dunajeva explores how two dominant stereotypes--bad Gypsies- and -good Roma--took hold in formal and informal educational institutions in Russia and Hungary. She shows that over centuries -Gypsies- came to be associated with criminality, lack of education, and backwardness. The second notion, of proud, empowered, and educated -Roma,- is a more recent development.
By identifying five historical phases-pre-modern, early-modern, early and -ripe- communism, and neomodern nation-building-the book captures crucial legacies that deepen social divisions and normalize the constructed group images. The analysis of the state-managed Roma identity project in the brief korenizatsija program for the integration of non-Russian nationalities into the Soviet civil service in the 1920s is particularly revealing, while the critique of contemporary endeavors is a valuable resource for policy makers and civic activists alike.
The top-down view is complemented with the bottom-up
