Authors

Discussion

The interwar period, which saw the establishment of Greater Romania, can be understood and conceptualized as the era where the Romanian nation building project comes to fruition. The project centered around the principle of unification through assimilation and the fostering of a sense of national belonging. For the Roma who had been physically, spatially, and socially marginalized and excluded from Romanian society, the project centered around their naturalization into society and their conformation to the dominant societal, political, and religious beliefs. These policies stretched both in a top-down manner, where the state implemented laws ceasing to end nomadism and established social programs to teach Roma of ‘the Romanian ways’ but also in a bottom-up’ or ‘ground-up’ matter where Roma leaders and intellectuals called for Romani social mobilization. Roma leaders and activists implemented a wide range of initiatives in attempt to foster a ‘Roma social movement’ that would not only unite Roma clans but ultimately bring about civic and social emancipation.

This paper examines the Romanian nation building project during the interwar period by looking at how the project impacted Romanian-Romani relations. Special emphasis is placed on the emergence of central and regional formal political activity led by Roma leaders. Attuned by the larger nation building project implemented by Romanian national authorities, Roma leaders sought their own initiatives of social mobilization in quest to unite Roma clans throughout the country under ‘one brotherhood’.