International Political Sociology
“In the End, History Repeats Itself.” Entangled Continuities and Changes in Discrimination Experiences and Resilience Strategies amongst Migrant Roma in Germany
2025-08-25
While anti-Roma discrimination has deep historical roots, specific forms of discrimination shift over time, particularly for people who migrate from one context to another. This article studies how continuities and changes of discrimination effect resilience strategies Roma people who have migrated from Southeast Europe to Germany employ. In particular, we draw on Denov et al.’s (2019) conceptualisation of intergenerational resilience and differentiate between passive resilience strategies that seek to avoid discrimination and active resilience strategies that confront discrimination in an attempt to change the discriminating individuals or institutions. Empirically, we draw on data from life history and semi-structured interviews gathered in a participant action research project with 55 Roma people who have migrated to Germany. Individuals’ choices of resilience strategies is determined by continuities and changes in discrimination experienced in their birth country and Germany. Perceptions of discrimination and appropriate resilience strategies accumulate over time and shape understandings of the type of discrimination to expect in which contexts, and how best to cope with it. Thus, both active and passive resilience strategies are passed down across generations with continuities across time (intergenerational) and space (migration) while individuals also adapt resilience strategies in response to new contexts and experiences.