Struggles and ambiguities over political subjectivities in the camp: Roma camp dwellers between neoliberal and urban citizenship in Italy

Abstract

What is the political subjectivity of the Roma living in Italian camps? Although the camp prevents the Roma from enjoying a series of rights, it does not fully determine their citizenship status. Indeed, citizenship is always contested and evolving through the interaction of a plurality of actors. By understanding the camp as an ‘assemblage space’, this article aims to unpack the complex political subjectivities of Roma camps-dwellers and to reflect on the struggles and ambiguities characterising the citizenship-making process in camp spaces. Through in-depth interviews conducted with members of non-governmental organisations and social movements in the city of Rome, I investigate the contention over meanings produced around the space of the camp and the Roma political subjectivities. I finally identify and discuss two framing strategies constituting the Roma as right bearers and supporting their demand to housing inclusion: a neoliberal and a ‘right to the city’ discourse that generate entrepreneurial and urban subjects.

Keywords:

• Camp
• assemblage
• political subjectivity
• neo-liberal citizenship
• right to the city
• Roma people

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank Diana Martin and Sarah Hughes for their help with the original version of the paper. I am also thankful to the two anonymous reviewers for the extremely helpful comments which crucially contributed to the improvement of the article. Special thanks go to Engin Isin who offered incredibly important support in the first stage of this work.