The Centre for Policy Futures and the School of Political Science and International Studies, The University of Queensland (UQ), we invite you to attend the upcoming presentation 'Should we Stay or Should we Go?: Brexit, European Freedom of Movement, and the Roma in Scotland' with Professor Colin Clark, Associate Dean (Research and Innovation) and Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of the West of Scotland.
Date: Thursday 24th October 2024
Time: 2:30pm - 3:30 pm, includes afternoon tea
Venue: Room 501, Level 5, General Purpose North 39a, POLSIS, ST LUCIA CAMPUS
There continues to be much public discussion in the United Kingdom and across other parts of Europe about the drivers, causes, and consequences of Brexit. Such debates have raged 24/7, often heated, contested and vexed. Since the results of the referendum were announced back in 2016, It has been a profoundly uneasy and unsettling time in the UK, not least for those EU citizens living and working in the UK. The mixed realities and consequences of the ‘leave’ decision in the EU Referendum have been stark, even more so in the context of COVID-19 and continuing austerity.
The focus of this paper is a deep examination of the implications and consequences for freedom of movement of EU nationals, especially for central and Eastern European Roma (‘Gypsy’) minority communities living and working in the UK, with a focused view from Scotland. This paper, based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork in Glasgow, Scotland, traces how some Slovak, Polish and Romanian Roma families have thought about, planned for, and responded to Brexit, in a geographical, economic, and social/cultural sense.
The paper also has something to say about the wider ‘place’ of Scotland in Europe and how it positions itself as part of the ‘European project’. During the Brexit debates, we witnessed elements of both civic and ethnic nationalism being embraced, especially by the Scottish National Party (SNP), to illustrate supposed political differences between England and Wales. Despite recent election results, it is argued that to try and protect freedom of movement, Scotland must a) secure its political independence from the rest of the UK and b) negotiate a place back in the heart of the European project. Overall, as the Irish commentator Fintan O’Toole has argued, Brexit has illustrated how lies have become truth, the oppressor now presents as the oppressed, and an openly populist and xenophobic English nationalism is a force that now dares to speak its political name.
All these factors need to be considered for how they impact those individuals and families at the sharp end of a divided Brexit politics—what of Roma and their freedom of movement? What of the four million EU citizens in the UK who found themselves in uncharted territory after the referendum? The one common thread has been a future of increasing cultural and political isolation, economic impoverishment, and intellectual self-harm.
About the Speaker
Colin Clark is Associate Dean (Research and Innovation) and Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of the West of Scotland. Colin’s PhD is from Edinburgh University, and he has previously worked at Glasgow University (1994-1996), Newcastle University (1996-20024), and Strathclyde University (2005-2013). His research is mainly located within the connected fields of Romani Studies and ethnic and racial studies, and he is interested in issues of identity, migration, and citizenship. Colin has published widely in these areas and supervised and examined several PhD students. Outside of UWS, Colin sits on the Board of Directors of the Glasgow anti-racist group Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights and is a Trustee of the Roma Rights group Romano Lav (Roma Voice). He also is a member of the Research Advisory Group for the Scottish Human Rights Commission, the Traveller Movement, and the Advisory Council for the Education of Romanies and other Travellers. More information about his work can be found here.