The issue, entitled Protestant, Pentecostal and Charismatic Mission Efforts towards Gypsy/Roma Communities (17th–21st Centuries), will focus on the history, dynamics, and legacies of Protestant, Pentecostal, and Charismatic missions among the Roma from the 17th century to the present day. Protestant engagement with Roma communities dates back at least to the late 17th century. By the 19th century it had developed into a transnational network of missions, and in the 20th and 21st centuries it intensified further, particularly through evangelical, neo-Protestant, Pentecostal, and Charismatic churches. The rapid spread of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity among the Roma since the mid-20th century is one of the most significant religious transformations in contemporary Romani life. Nevertheless, the topic remains understudied in Romani Studies scholarship.
Thematic areas (selection):
- missionary motivations and strategies, from evangelization and education to social welfare and assimilationist policies
- Roma agency and resistance, including the appropriation of religious content and Roma-led Pentecostal and Charismatic movements
- institutional and transnational networks of missionary societies, churches, and state actors
- the transformation of Romani identity in missionary texts, sermons, and practices (music, singing, healing, prayer)
- conversion, identity, and community, including double stigmatization based on ethnicity and religion
- long-term legacies of missions, historical memory, and intergenerational trauma
The editors particularly welcome critical reassessments of established narratives, contributions that foreground Roma voices (ego-documents, oral history, community-based methodologies), and comparative and interdisciplinary approaches. The call is open to historians, anthropologists, ethnographers, sociologists, church historians, literary scholars, and others.
Requirements and deadlines:
- abstract (300–500 words) with a short author bio: by 31 October 2026
- full manuscript in English (6,000–9,000 words, including notes and references): by 28 February 2027
- all submissions will undergo double-blind peer review
- submissions should be sent to tatiana.podolinska@savba.sk and diethard.sawicki@izp.uni-halle.de
The full call for papers is available for download HERE.
The complete issue of Romani Studies 1/2026 is available HERE.
