‘The more successful, the more apolitical’. Romani mentors’ mixed experiences with an intra-ethnic mentoring project

Abstract

This paper discusses Romani mentors’ mixed experiences, views and coping practices in an intra-ethnic ‘natural mentoring’ project targeting young Romani (more commonly known as ‘Gypsy’) students in Spain. The intervention transforms already existing intra-ethnic bonds into mentorships in local Spanish Romani communities. To meet the aims of this research, observations were conducted at mentors’ follow-up meetings and other project activities, and individual semi-structured interviews were held with three female and three male mentors. The mentors’ mixed views and experiences are analysed in four dimensions: competence, commitment, project operation and sociocultural change. From a critical stance, the results suggest that mentoring remains highly apolitical, having as its primary object ‘people to be developed’ and not the structure that is to do the developing. In this endeavour, mentoring is instrumentalized to create self-regulated ‘active’ citizens desiring to be acted upon through ‘technologies of the self’.

Keywords:

• Spanish Roma
• technologies of the self
• neoliberal governance
• intra-ethnic mentoring
• natural mentoring

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Springboard to Roma Youth Success (STORY_S). JUST/REC-777257. 2018-19

2 Ex. “Big brother: mentoring program for Roma youth” in Romania through EEA Grants

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the European Union’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (2014-2020), through the project ‘Springboard to Roma Youth Success (STORY_S)’, under Grant: JUST/REC-777257.