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Policy implications of the vagaries in population estimates on the accuracy of sociographical mapping of contemporary Slovak Roma communities

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Abstract

This paper presents the results of the latest sociographical research into the contemporary Roma community in Slovakia. The introduction provides an overview of Roma in Slovakian territory in the past and the various attempts by the government to calculate their numbers and ethnicity. The second part presents the 2013 in-depth and innovative field methodology used to tabulate Roma numbers and map major social characteristics of the Roma population. The information focuses on key social and economic characteristics. Maps reveal the spatial distribution of Roma in Slovakia, including subethnic groups, together with a classification of their settlements and infrastructures, and data on their education and employment structure which are useful in social policy planning. Given that few similar detailed studies on the Roma have yet been carried out in other European countries, this contribution highlights methodology and mapping efforts that could be adopted elsewhere.

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Notes

  1. There are many exonyms for Roma in various languages. In the English-speaking world, the most common are Gypsies, Tzigame or Travellers. In this paper, we use “Roma” because it is preferred in Europe and is not burdened with pejorative meanings.

  2. This term applies not only to Roma, but other nationalities in Slovakia.

  3. The principle of self-identification means that Roma declare their ethnic affinity whereas the principle of assigned ethnicity means that Roma ethnic identity is a judgment made by others.

  4. For example, according to preliminary findings from 2010, there are more than 400 municipalities in Slovakia where the estimated number perceived to be Roma is less than 30. Those municipalities with a Roma population assumed to be less than 30 were not included in the detailed research within the 2013 sociographic mapping. The total number of inhabitants in these municipalities perceived to be Roma was approximately 4000, which represents about one percent of the total number of Roma within the sociographic mapping.

  5. More detailed information about the method used and the information used can be found in Mušinka et al. (2014) and Mušinka and Matlovičová (2015).

  6. Given that the method of data collection is based on qualitative estimates, such information could be classified as “soft data.”

  7. According to data from the Department of Labour, Social Affairs and the Family (UPSVAR) an average of 66,355 activation contributions were paid out per month in 2013.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Donna Gilbreath for assistance with manuscript preparation. The article is part of the research grant project VEGA: 1/0165/15: Pro-poor tourism as a tool for sustainable development of marginalized communities and settlements in Eastern Slovakia.

Funding

This research was funded in part by VEGA (Vedecká grantová agentúra) Grant Number 1/0165/15.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

    Stanley D. Brunn

  2. Department of Geography and Applied Geoinformatics, Faculty of Humanities and Natural Sciences, University of Presov, Presov, Slovakia

    Kvetoslava Matlovičová & René Matlovič

  3. Institut of Roma Studies, University of Presov, Presov, Slovakia

    Alexander Mušinka

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  1. Stanley D. Brunn
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  2. Kvetoslava Matlovičová
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Correspondence to Stanley D. Brunn.

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Brunn, S.D., Matlovičová, K., Mušinka, A. et al. Policy implications of the vagaries in population estimates on the accuracy of sociographical mapping of contemporary Slovak Roma communities. GeoJournal 83, 853–869 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-017-9804-9

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