Bernard Rorke - openDemocracy

Eyes wide shut: collective punishment of Roma in 21st-century Europe

75 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, despite the EU Framework for Roma Integration which closes this year, anti-Roma racism has spiked across the continent.

By Bernard Rorke

/ 24 Jan 2020

Eyes wide shut: collective punishment of Roma in 21st-century Europe

Racism's cruelest cut: coercive sterilisation of Romani women and their fight for justice in the Czech Republic (1966-2016)

A government-sponsored eugenics programme in Czechoslovakia sterilised Roma women without their knowledge; though the programme may be dead, the struggle for justice and recognition continues.

By Bernard Rorke and Marek Szilvasi

/ 24 Jan 2017

Racism's cruelest cut: coercive sterilisation of Romani women and their fight for justice in the Czech Republic (1966-2016)

A government-sponsored eugenics programme in Czechoslovakia sterilised Roma women without their knowledge; though the programme may be dead, the struggle for justice and recognition continues.

By Bernard Rorke and Marek Szilvasi

/ 24 Jan 2017

Slovakia: Roma exclusion and the dark side of democracy

The EU should heed Slovakia consistently falling short of ‘Council of Europe standards’ in a seemingly inexorable shift to the dark side of democracy: illiberal, majoritarian, Christian and national.

By Bernard Rorke

/ 29 Apr 2016

Slovakia: Roma exclusion and the dark side of democracy

The EU should heed Slovakia consistently falling short of ‘Council of Europe standards’ in a seemingly inexorable shift to the dark side of democracy: illiberal, majoritarian, Christian and national.

By Bernard Rorke

/ 29 Apr 2016

The end of a decade: what happened to Roma inclusion?

Ten years ago the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015 was launched. Now that the Decade has been formally closed, it is time to reflect on the results.

By Bernard Rorke and Margareta Matache

/ 29 Sep 2015

The end of a decade: what happened to Roma inclusion?

Ten years ago the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015 was launched. Now that the Decade has been formally closed, it is time to reflect on the results.

By Bernard Rorke and Margareta Matache

/ 29 Sep 2015

Anti-Gypsyism 25 years on: Europe fails Havel’s litmus test

Twenty-five years after the fall of communism, it still hasn't sunk in that racism and exclusion is not a ‘Gypsy problem’ but a 'Europe problem'.

By Bernard Rorke

/ 16 Jan 2015

Anti-Gypsyism 25 years on: Europe fails Havel’s litmus test

Twenty-five years after the fall of communism, it still hasn't sunk in that racism and exclusion is not a ‘Gypsy problem’ but a 'Europe problem'.

By Bernard Rorke

/ 16 Jan 2015

Hungary's Fidesz and its 'Jewish Question'

Hungary’s Fidesz government may not have pursued a state-sponsored policy of anti-Semitism. However, it has indulged in outrageous historical revisionism; failed to censure anti-Semitism from high within its own ranks; and screwed up its official commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Holoca

By Bernard Rorke

/ 22 Sep 2014

Hungary's Fidesz and its 'Jewish Question'

Hungary’s Fidesz government may not have pursued a state-sponsored policy of anti-Semitism. However, it has indulged in outrageous historical revisionism; failed to censure anti-Semitism from high within its own ranks; and screwed up its official commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Holoca

By Bernard Rorke

/ 22 Sep 2014

Roma integration and 'a normal way of living'

Roma integration in Europe has shifted to a right-wing definition of integration where the onus is being placed on the minorities to make the adjustments and accommodations deemed necessary for social cohesion.

By Bernard Rorke

/ 1 Jun 2014