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The implementation of a democratic system and citizenship of ciganos/roma people in Portugal: the paradigmatic case of Zebreira, Idanha-a-Nova, Castelo Branco District
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The Ciganos/ Roma have been in Portugal for more than five centuries (since the first
official registration), but there is still a huge lack of historical and social knowledge about
their living conditions from their arrival to the present day. Knowledge is scarce and
fragmented, both before and during the fascist state or ‘Estado Novo’ (Salazarism), when
it was in force in Portugal (1933-1974). This was a period of dictatorship in which the
relationship between the state and the Ciganos/ Roma was unknown. Only some
information is known about the enormous repression experienced, persecution and
expulsions, which contributed to the construction of an imaginary that reflects a past of
constant flight (Mangas, 2021; Mendes, 2012). Thus, the state's strategy towards the
Ciganos/ Roma has been characterised for centuries by segregation and merciless
persecution (Bastos et al., 2007, Bastos, 2012; Silva, 2014). Every means was tried, even the
most violent, to eradicate them from continental territory (expulsion orders; sentencing to
banishment and deportations). Attempts at integration were rare and, when they did exist,
they were always clearly aimed at repression, dissolution or domestication (Dias, 1995).
The few references available point to living mainly in rural areas, without sufficient
means of subsistence, housing and health conditions (Brinca, 2012). The disappearance of
some opportunities for seasonal work, such as tending livestock and picking fruit, has
meant that, like many other Portuguese populations, they have migrated internally to the
outskirts of large cities, especially Lisbon and Porto, and there has been a large-scale
process of sedentarisation of the Ciganos/ Roma in Portuguese society (Costa, 1995). In
1952, the Ciganos/Roma were granted the right to citizenship, which required their children
to enrol in school, be settled and do compulsory military service (Antunes, 1997. Since 1974,
access to citizenship rights has expanded, as has the right to housing and health services
(Mendes et al., 2014).
The democratic revolution of 25 April 1974 allowed for an unprecedented opening
in terms of the possibility of settling and improving the living conditions of Portuguese
Ciganos/Roma. The aim of this communication is to find out how the implementation of
the democratic system impacted on the lives of Ciganos/ Roma families and contributed to
their settling in certain social and territorial contexts, both urban and rural. We intend to
present some exploratory results resulting from the application of qualitative
methodology with in-depth interviews in which Ciganos/ Roma over the age of 65 are given
a voice in various locations in Portugal. We will also use the results of an ethnographic
investigation in a town in the central interior of Portugal that is characterised by many
Ciganos/ Roma families - Zebreira, in the municipality of Idanha-a-Nova, in the district of
Castelo Branco. In this town, Ciganos/ Roma makes up around 50 per cent of the resident
population. Using an ethnographic approach, which includes fieldwork, participant
146 observation, interviews and documentary analysis, the research seeks to understand the
historical and geographical trajectories of Ciganos/ Roma families, the factors that enabled
them to remain and take root, as well as the social dynamics established with the
surrounding community.
We intend to contribute to in-depth knowledge of a unique case of Ciganos/ Roma
families settling in a single parish, promoting reflection on public policies for integration
and social cohesion and their interconnection with the conditions allowed by the change
in the political scenario in Portugal.
Descrição
Palavras-chave
Ciganos Etnografia Políticas públicas
Contexto Educativo
Citação
Editora
Gypsy Lore Society