Event overview
with Iliana Tsankova Sarafian, Goldsmiths University of London
Part of Autumn Term seminar series.
The subject of this presentation reflects on the dramatic overrepresentation of Roma children living in care provision in Bulgaria. What does it mean for children to have the state as a parent and what do such notions as ‘family’, ‘home’, ‘parent’ mean to them? One of the most acute forms of state interference in my fieldwork was its ‘kinning’ strategy expressed in placing Roma children in institutional care. This is why, by looking at the crisis points of a family breakdown, whether actual or imposed and imagined by the state, I attempt to voice the realities of the care leavers and give a chance to the ‘underrepresented’ to voice their life stories.
First, I examine the economic and symbolic value of the state’s decision to look after children and the history of this state intervention. The so called ‘orphanages’ or institutions were generally meant to provide safety for children and that this process was not something unique for Bulgaria and other socialist and postsocialist countries in the region. Furthermore, I argue that state care not only exposes Roma children to a greater risk of violence and abuse than children raised within their families but it also impinges on their identities, be they ethnic, cultural, gender and other. I illustrate how both universal social policies directed at helping all children and policies targeted to help the most deprived children in a population, can further marginalise the latter. In addition, by looking at how social characteristics and external factors affect Roma children’s identity I provide examples of how children’s activities are shaped by structural constraints and state interventions. Finally, and most importantly, being removed from their birth families created insecurity and vulnerability amongst my informants, yet their narratives present an incredible amount of resilience, perseverance and hope.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Oct 2019 | 4:00pm - 6:00pm |
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