Romaphobia in the Age of Populism: A Study of UK and Swedish Media and Political Discourse

This project will investigate contemporary expressions of racism and xenophobia toward the Roma in the context of the growing populism in Europe.

It focuses on two specific contexts, the UK and Sweden, examining how and why Romaphobia becomes particularly widespread in times of socio-political crisis and how it is communicated across media platforms.

The project will make a valuable contribution to understanding how Romaphobia in media and political discourse is discursively constructed—often in ways which are easily manageable and deniable by those who disseminate racist discourses.

This project combines content analysis and multimodal critical discourse analysis (MCDA) in two empirical studies (1) an examination of UK news media, YouTube, and political discourse on Roma migrants during 2016 when the UK voted to exit the European Union and (2) an examination of the most influential Swedish editorials and political opinions on Twitter on the controversial ban on begging in Sweden, following 2016, prior and after the Swedish electoral elections.

The project is extremely timely and relevant, if one looks at the current treatment of the Roma in Europe.

Despite the significant efforts from European Commission and human rights groups to combat racism and discrimination, most European Roma live on the edge of poverty and are regularly subjected to violence and social exclusion—actions which became more routinised and are little or infrequently articulated in media and political discourse.

In addition to contributing to the academic knowledge on discourse and racism, the proposed project will be instrumental for independent media bodies in raising awareness for the kind of concealed forms of racism that have dominated the public discourse.

Such critically oriented research is vital for policy makers in designing and implementing more effective legislation to eradicate, even if partially, the discrimination and inequalities experienced by Roma in Europe.