Racialisation, the EU Referendum result and sentiments of belonging in the UK: a consideration of Roma populations

Abstract

This article reports on a qualitative study with migrant Roma communities in South Yorkshire, UK. The study was undertaken shortly after the 2016 European Union membership referendum in the UK. It finds that while hostility towards the studied Roma population did increase immediately after the resulting Leave vote, their experiences of racialisation can be situated more clearly in how the result engendered a shift in the expressions and understandings of their own place and position, with their particular histories as EU migrants of Roma heritage. In doing so, it adds to the evidence of how racialisation is manifest for such groups within this period. While acknowledging the specificity of these experiences, the article also argues that Roma share some features with the experiences of other EU migrants, also situated in the Leave period of social, cultural and geopolitical uncertainty.