Research
Romani Studies at Södertörn University has a multidisciplinary focus with national, Nordic and international links, and both Roma and non-Roma researchers. Research at the university has an emancipatory focus and a rights-based perspective, and thus has a high level of societal relevance. The core of our research is a critical approach to colonial, racist and antiziganist perspectives in Romani Studies, past and present.
Romani Studies has natural intersections with other disciplines in research and education that may have similar topics of enquiry. At Södertörn University, Romani Studies has cooperated with education, history, linguistics, social work, history of art, journalism, comparative literature, criminology, sociology, law, Sami studies and ethnology. At doctoral level, we have a colloquium for doctoral students that focuses on critical studies and antiziganism research.
Our research collaborations include the Central European University (Budapest/Vienna), Harvard University, the Antiziganism Research Unit at Heidelberg University and the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (Berlin).
JEKHIPE and CHACHIPEN
Jan Selling participates as national expert on antigypsyism for Sweden in the project “Reclaiming Our Past, Rebuilding Our Future: New Approaches to Fighting Antigypsyism” (JEKHIPE), financed by the European Commission under the Citizens, Equality, Rights, and Values Programme (CERV).
The Consortium includes the European Roma Grassroots Organisations Network (ERGO), the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC), and the European Center for Policy Studies (CEPS), together with national partners from Czechia (Slovo 21), Germany (Central Council for German Sinti and Roma), Italy (Union of Romani Communities in Italy – UCRI and Romni association), Romania (Roma Center Amare Romentza), Spain (Federation of Roma Associations of Catalonia – FAGiC and Romane Siklovne association), and Sweden (Trajosko Drom). The project es some of the key structural and institutional obstacles in achieving justice and equality for Roma, including the lack of acknowledgment of Roma as victims of historical injustices such as slavery or the Holocaust. A declared goal is to work for the establishment of expert and truth commissions.
The JEKHIPE is a follow-up of the project CHACHIPEN. 'Paving the way for Truth and Reconciliation Process to address antigypsyism in Europe: Remembrance, Recognition, Justice and Trust Building (2021-2022), also including Jan Selling as national expert on antigypsyism for Sweden. Financed by EU DG JUST Grant. Main partners: CEPS, Belgium (project manager Prof. Sergio Carrera); Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, Germany; European Roma Grassroots Organizations Network, Belgium/EU; Federación de Asociaciones Gitanas de Cataluña, Spain; ARESEL, Romania. Other project researchers : Anja Reuss (Germany) , Ciprian Nodis och Iulius Rostas (Romania), Annabel Carballo och Pedro Casemero (Spain). Advisory board: Soraya Post, Miriam Karoly, Markus End, Ismael Cortes och Claude Cahn.
Report: Carballo-Mesa, Ana / Sergio Carrera / Pedro Casermeiro Cortes / Iulius Rostas / Jan Selling / Lavinia Stan (2023) Paving the Way for Truth and Reconciliation Process to Address Antigypsyism in Europe.
External link, opens in new window. Remembrance, Recognition, Justice and Trust-Building.
ROSGUC
Jan Selling runs the project Romanian Orthodox Church Slavery Guilt complex (ROSGUC), which examines the organized silencing of slavery memory related to the Church. The project is based on desk research and interviews with representatives of the Romanian Orthodox Church, scholars and memory activists in Romania. The interviews where collected in field studies financed by the Norwegian Research Council 2023 (project MEMOROBIA).