The "Gypsy" stigma: A qualitative study in the context of ethnic identity and class

This study reveals how the symbolic exclusion initiated through the stigmatization of Roman identity under the category of "Gypsy" has evolved into strategic identity negotiations aimed at visibility in the public sphere and claims to citizenship. It demonstrates how inequalities in access to education and employment intersect with the lack of cultural and social capital; in this context, it is identified that Roman-Gypsy individuals are structurally excluded from the formal labor market and stigmatized both spatially and socially through their association with criminality. Furthermore, the experiences of Roman-Gypsy women are examined within a multidimensional regime of oppression, where class-based exploitation and patriarchal domination intertwine. The invisible forms of resistance developed by women in their daily lives are conceptualized within this thesis as silent yet effective counter-strategies. The orientation toward the discourse of "Turkishness" is interpreted as a form of ideological adaptation shaped by the intersection of a desire for recognition and survival strategies; this orientation is regarded not merely as a tendency toward assimilation, but also as a practice of subjectivation developed in response to structural domination. In this framework, the study does not reduce the Roman-Gypsy community to a position of passive victimhood; on the contrary, by uncovering the forms of struggle, negotiation, and subjectivation developed in everyday life against regimes of exclusion, it sheds light on the plural, contradictory, and dynamic nature of the social structure under examination.