Roma and Sinti, paths of participation in public memory. The pedagogy of recognition through art

Abstract

This contribution starts from the description of the slow process of building a collective memory in relation to the past of persecution and extermination of the Roma and Sinti people. The genocide of this population struggles to fit into the definition of public memory of a Nation, but also of the majority collective memory. Rather, it is a community memory, which is born, consolidates and survives in particular thanks to orality and the fundamental role of art. In the essay I propose, the Pedagogy of Recognition, as a necessary construction of a shared space for discussion and narration in a multidisciplinary educational context, appears as the only solution to the condition of strong ghettoization and social stigmatization suffered by the majority of the Roma and Sinti community. In this context, the analysis takes into consideration the TRACER project, as an example of a European action-research project, built in reference to the concepts of the Pedagogy of Recognition and full participation of young Roma and Sinti in the activities, ending with a look at the ability of some professional stories to point the way towards pedagogical paths.

In the essay I propose, the Pedagogy of Recognition, as a necessary construction of a shared space for discussion and narration in a multidisciplinary educational context, appears as the only solution to the condition of strong ghettoization and social stigmatization suffered by the majority of the Roma and Sinti community.

In this context, the analysis takes into consideration the TRACER project, as an example of a European action-research project, built in reference to the concepts of the Pedagogy of Recognition and full participation of young Roma and Sinti in the activities, ending with a look at the ability of some professional stories to point the way towards pedagogical paths.