La France des tsiganes. The “civilizing project” and the emergence of the Roma movement (1949-1969)

Abstract

This article looks into the treatment that the public authorities, on the one hand, and the Romani movement, on the other, gave to the so-called “tsigane (Gypsy or Roma) question” in post-World War II France. The article analyses the characteristics and evolution of both actors, focusing not only on the civilising discourse of the former (that of the so-called “friends of the Tsiganes”), but also on the response of the latter (led by the Romanies themselves) to the paternalism of the non-tsiganes. The conclusions argue that, contrary to the highly dichotomous and simplistic interpretation that the literature has given to the nature and the connection between the public authorities and the Romani movement, the contact between them involved tensions, conflicts and approaches that enhanced the plurality of both actors.