Romowie dla społeczeństwa wielokulturowego i Program na rzecz społeczności romskiej w Polsce

Abstract

In the past centuries, Gypsies, today known as the Romani people, contributed to the multiculturalism of societies, mostly in Central and Eastern Europe. With the passing of time, owing to the activities of national administrative authorities, this multiculturalism was limited. The activities which were undertaken not only aimed at the assimilation of Gypsies but they also pertained to other minorities. The change in the attitude to others occurred in the second part of the 20th century when the idea of multiculturalism emerged in the West. In this paper, three types of multiculturalism, referring to the real conditions of various societies, have been distinguished and characterised. These are: natural multiculturalism, rational multiculturalism and celebrated multiculturalism. Multiculturalism which is propagated at present is celebrated multiculturalism. It focuses on the rights of an individual and not on the rights of a group and it has little in common with natural multiculturalism which allowed an individual to fully participate in minority culture and respected the co-existence of different cultures in society. In the light of the assumptions, Programme for the Romani community in Poland aims at integrating the Romani people into modern Polish society. As emerges from the analyses, it can contribute to the mobility of particular Romani people within society and – at the same time – it can endanger the maintenance of Romani identity.