Book review: Mobilizing Romani Ethnicity: Romani Political Activism in Argentina, Colombia, and Spain by Anna Mirga-Kruszelnicka

Anna Clara Viana de Oliveira (2023). “Mobilizing Romani ethnicity:  Romani political activism in Argentina, Colombia, and Spain.  Anna Mirga-Kruszelnicka.  Critical Romani Studies Book Series, volume 3.  Budapest:  Central European University Press, 2022.  316 pp. ISBN: 978-963-386-449-4 (pbk)”, Romani Studies 33(2): 299-303. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3828/rost.2023.13

Mobilizing Romani Ethnicity is a welcome addition to the Romani studies literature and the reading lists of those interested in transnational policymaking, identity-based mobilization, and, of course, the importance of ethnic politics. The book’s main argument is that ethnic mobilization cannot be viewed through the lens of a particular event or individual. Political opportunities and ethnic mobilization are in constant interaction, and their modifications should be understood as “a dynamic process of adaptation to, alignment with, and transformation of the ever-changing political and social environments” (p. 8). Mirga-Kruszelnicka makes good use of her research in Argentina, Colombia, and Spain and of her extensive experience as an activist to build her case. She provides a compelling view of ethnic mobilization as a complex web of interconnected links and networks that have been studied primarily through national lenses, not as a global phenomenon that also influences domestic matters through constant dynamic interplay.

https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/rost.2023.13