The aspect of culture in the social inclusion of ethnic minorities: evaluation of the impact of inclusion policies under the open method of co-ordination in the European Union ; assessing the cultural policies of six member states ; final report Slovakia

Abstract

'The report of the Slovak team is divided into three parts. The first one describes social inclusion policies of Roma in Slovakia in general. The second evaluates inclusion policies of the National Action Plans on social inclusion by analyzing focus groups with experts, and the third one brings analysis of particular inclusion policies. The paper finally brings also rather theoretical input whether Roma have where to integrate and describes structural problems of social inclusion policies. The first part brings information on ethnic composition of the population of Slovakia and specificities of a Roma minority. Authors analyze how the Roma issue became the hottest topic in Slovakia over the period since 1989 and how policy makers started to realize the importance of investing significant amounts of time, money, social capital, and especially political will into solving the so-called Roma issue. The paper brings also insides into legal protection mechanisms, strategic Slovak governmental materials addressing the problems of Roma since 1989 and describes state institutions dealing with the Roma issues. The second part analyses the focus group results. The Slovak NAP on social inclusion has been identified as one-dimensional, focused primarily on economic dimension of the problem, and incomplete due to inability to identify target group. The most visible problem of a NAP is also a lack of focus on segregated Roma communities. Paper points out also at a missing bridge between cultural policies and social inclusion and describes how a support for culture in a sense of increasing participation is completely missing in all materials. A paper defines also strategies of the state and local authorities towards Roma population. The third part analyses particular policies included in the National Action Plan on social inclusion. It describes desegregation measures and causes of low education participation of Roma children, and is assessing costs in the field of education. In the same way employment policies are being analysed, although assessment of costs n this field is more than problematic. The final paper also analyses policies on inter-cultural dialogue and describes public opinion towards Roma in Slovakia and media coverage of Roma in Slovak media. Finally, paper brings intriguing question whether Roma have where to integrate. Authors suggest that social inclusion policies will not be successful until country will not switch into territorial self-identification and will overcome ethnic self-identification.' (author's abstract)