Subtle forms of racism in strategy documents concerning Roma inclusion

Abstract

This paper explores the ways in which national governments address the social inclusion of disadvantaged and disenfranchised groups in official strategy documents of the state. Data for this study come from a corpus of four key government strategy papers concerning Roma inclusion published by the Romanian Government between 2001 and 2015. This paper specifically looks at the ways in which strategy documents frame the problem of “crime” in the context of Roma inclusion. Texts were analysed using a critical frame analysis approach complemented by insights from discursive research. The findings highlight that although generally government policy on the Roma adopts and promotes a progressive/liberal agenda that aligns with EU strategic goals, pronounced ambivalence towards Roma people and subtle forms of racism are still present and persist.