Dr. Eben Friedman’s comparative analysis

Romas most integrated in Macedonia

“The Roma Integration in Slovakia and Macedonia – Comparative Analysis” is the title of Eben Friedman’s work, published by MCIC and promoted on 24 January in Skopje. This work is part of Friedman’s doctor’s thesis, a PhD. In Political Sciences at the University of California, San Diego, called “Explaining the Political Integration of the Minorities: Romas as a difficult case”, where the author basis his thesis on the two-year field research in Slovakia and Macedonia on the general condition of Romas, the government policies and the Roma strategy for dealing with problems.

“In the post-communist period in Southeastern Europe, the Republic of Slovakia is probably the country that treats Roma people worst, while the degree of Roma political integration in the Republic of Macedonia is probably the best. However, they are still on the margins of the society, which refers to the huge field of work on this problem. “ – emphasized Friedman. In the publication, the MCIC Executive Director, Saso Klekovski, added: “Both goals are achieved by publishing the comparative analysis. The first one is the realization of the condition with the xenophobia, respecting the differences and the tolerance in Macedonia in the case of a “small” minority. This is important from the aspect of building a multicultural, not mono or bi cultural society. The second one is the contribution in building a “national strategy” for dealing with the Roma problems in the dawn of the Roma Decade 2005-2015. The usefulness is increased with the possibility for making comparisons (with Slovakia) and with the fact that the author is an independent and non-biased observer”.  For the promoter, Mirjana Najcevska, from the Institute for Sociological and Political-Legal Researches and President of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, the book is an attempt to show resistance to the racist beliefs, which cannot be eradicated with declarative efforts. The publication is part of the programme “Applied Education of Young Romas which is implemented by the MCIC with financial support from the Danish Church Aid (DCA) and the Union of High School Students from Denmark. Besides the book, they published a CD-Rom in Macedonian and in English, which contains the whole text of the book.

 

D.M.