Research of religiosity, spirituality and irreligiozity among the Roma in Slovakia
Grant Scheme: APVV
Project ID: APVV–22–0389
Title of Project: Research of religiosity, spirituality, and irreligiosity among the Roma in Slovakia
Acronym: RELIROMA
Project Duration: 1.7.2023 – 30.6.2027
Principal Investigator: Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology SAS
Project Partners: Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra – Faculty of Social Sciences and Health Care, Comenius University Bratislava – Faculty of Natural Sciences
Project Leader: Mgr. Tatiana Zachar Podolinská, PhD.
Financial Manager IESA SAS: Mgr. Branislava Kolesárová
The main goal of the project is to investigate and document manifestations of church and non-church religiosity among the Roma in Slovakia, including manifestations of modern and postmodern spirituality and hitherto unexplored phenomena of religious experimenting, de-conversion, non-religiosity and secularism.
The project includes the analysis of existing quantitative surveys containing data on ethnicity, religiosity, and non-religion in Slovakia in dynamic perspective (EVS, ISSP, WVS, National censuses in the 21st century). Consecutive qualitative research will take place both at the individual micro-level (individual, family) and at the meso-level (institutions, etc.) within the local social field. In addition to the initial mapping of the activities of traditional churches and new religious movements among the Roma in Slovakia, the project will focus on ethnographic research among believing Roma (conversion narratives) and religious leaders in selected localities. Via collecting the life trajectories and stories, it will also approach the paths of non-practicing believers, de-converts, spiritual seekers, religiously indifferent and secular Roma. As a control sample, the local non-Roma population will be selectively mapped using the same methods.
A combination of mixed-method design and multi-level and multi-sited ethnographies will enable us to place received profiles in a broader context. The specific goal of the project is to document religious-spiritual and ritual objects and compositions in Roma communities within the local piety (chapels, crosses, domestic altars, religious images and frescoes, domestic devotionals, etc.) by the method of documentary and artistic photography.
One of the main outputs of the project will be the first Web portal of Roma religious and spiritual art in Slovakia. The project will also deliver the traveling exhibition and corresponding lectures for public in regions.
Information about the project and its outputs
On November 26, 2024, we welcomed Assoc. Prof. Magdalena Slavkova from the Institute of Ethnography and Folklore Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences to our institute. As part of our expert seminar series, she delivered a lecture titled “Why only Jesus Christ can save us? Religious experience and belonging of the Evangelical Roma in the perspectives of Bulgarian and Slovakian Romani Studies.” The findings presented by Magdalena Slavkova are also one of the outcomes of her study stay at our institute this year, based on the intergovernmental agreement between the Slovak Republic and Bulgaria.
Picture 1: M. Slavkova´s lecture (©Juraj Majo)
Picture 2: M. Slavkova´s lecture (©Juraj Majo)
From November 21 to 24, the RELIROMA project team held its first off-site meeting of the year at Chateau Krakovany. The agenda included evaluating the field research conducted so far in various locations across Slovakia, discussing and unifying the coding process of the collected field materials, and outlining additional field research sites for 2025.
Picture 1: RELIROMA project team meeting (©Tatiana Zachar Podolinská)
Picture 2: Evaluation of the field research localities (©Tatiana Zachar Podolinská)
From November 13 to 15, the traditional and well-established event, the Academy of Romani Studies, took place in Prague. The 9th edition was organized by our Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV, v.v.i) in cooperation with the Department of Romani Studies at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague. Supported by the projects POINT: Support for Internationalization at Charles University and APPV-22-0389 Research of Religiosity, Spirituality, and Non-Religiosity among Roma in Slovakia, the conference once again hosted researchers focused on Romani issues in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The event was opened by Helena Sedílková from Charles University in Prague and Tomáš Hrustič from UESA SAV. As part of the academy, presentations from our institute included contributions by Juraj Majo: Religiosity, Spirituality, and Non-Religiosity among Roma in Slovakia — the Reliroma Project (research design and initial findings). Tomáš Hrustič participated as a discussant in Lukáš L. Červinka’s presentation on the topic Exclusion of Roma from the Czech Political Community.
Pictures:
Picture 1: T. Hrustič and M. Sedílková during the academy’s opening (©J. Majo)
Picture 2: J. Majo during his presentation (©D. Škobla)
Picture 3: T. Hrustič as a discussant with L. L. Červinka (©J. Majo)
On October 24, an online meeting of the Reliroma project team took place. Following the initial period of field data collection, we discussed aspects of coding and making field materials accessible with the head of the Institute’s documentation department, Dr. Andrej Gogora. These materials will be stored in the archive of the Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology. Given the scope and nature of the materials collected, it is necessary to introduce a special coding system, distinct from inventory numbers, to enable individual materials to be identified and interlinked (e.g., based on family connections). The project team also discussed other important aspects of processing the field materials – such as addressing the handling of confidential information in interviews beyond the level covered by informed consent signed by respondents, as well as options for transferring and storing collected materials on the Institute’s cloud. Further work with the field material, including coding and creating annotations, will be the focus of an on-site meeting in Krakovany at the end of November.
Picture 1: Screenshot from the working meeting, October 24, 2024
Picture 2: Screenshot from the working meeting, October 24, 2024
As part of the RELIROMA project, Juraj Majo, in co-authorship with Barbara Lášticová from the Institute for Research in Social Communication of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, v. v. i., published a scientific study in the journal Sociológia – Slovak Sociological Review in October 2024. The publication is in Open Access format.
Majo, J., Lášticová, B. (2024). Deklarovanie druhej národnosti v sčítaní z roku 2021 na Slovensku: nové skúsenosti, nové vedecké výzvy. Sociológia – Slovak Sociological Review, 56(5), 450-480. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/sociologia.2024.56.5.17
Part of the program of the annual Gypsy Lore Society conference in Sofia, Bulgaria, in September 2024 was a panel created within the RELIROMA project, organized by T. Zachar Podolinská and Magdalena Slavkova from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The panel featured contributions from Tatiana Zachar Podolinská, who presented Unveiling the Unexplored Faces of Religiosity, Spirituality, and Non-religiosity among the Roma in Slovakia; Tomáš Hrustič, who discussed Religion as a Driving Factor of Increased Political Participation of Roma in Slovakia; Juraj Majo, who shared insights on Family and Faith in the Romani Community in Slovakia. A Few Remarks from the 2021 Census; and Magdalena Slavkova, who presented on Social Inclusion and Belonging to the Global Community of God’s Chosen People of Evangelical Roma in Bulgaria and Slovakia, a topic she developed during her 2023 residency at the Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology.
- Book of Abstracts from the conference is available HERE.
- The opening speech of the president of GLS, Tatiana Zachar Podolinská, is available in electronic version HERE.
- The scientific paper by T. Zachar Podolinská in the RELIROMA panel is available in electronic version HERE.
- The scientific paper by J. Majo in the RELIROMA panel is available in electronic version HERE.
- The scientific paper by M. Slavkova in the RELIROMA panel is available in electronic version HERE.
Read more about the conference HERE.
On June 6, 2024, the research team of the RELIROMA project held a coordination seminar focused on archiving field records. Andrej Gogora, the head of the Scientific Collections and Information-Documentation Department at the Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, presented various aspects and challenges of archiving field records. The research team was introduced to methods of digital preservation of field data, including aspects of data coding and storage. The team also coordinated the plan for field research and data collection for the year ahead.
Photo: RELIROMA project team (Branislava Kolesárová)
Tatiana Zachar Podolinská and Juraj Majo participated in the international ISORECEA conference in April 2024, focusing on the theme Religious Diversity and Social Cohesion in Central and Eastern Europe and Beyond. Both colleagues presented a paper titled New Wine in Old Wineskins? Current Aspects of Religious Identities and Diversities of Roma Minority in Slovakia.
- The presentation is available for download HERE.
- The conference program can be downloaded HERE.
- The electronic version of the Book of Abstracts is available HERE.
Photo: Juraj Majo
Tatiana Zachar Podolinská and Tomáš Hrustič spoke at an international conference in Sibiu focused on the role of religion in the social inclusion of Roma. T. Zachar Podolinská delivered a keynote lecture titled Possibilities of Social Inclusion of Roma via Religious Path: Lessons from the Field. T. Hrustič presented on the topic Roma Converts to Jehovah’s Witnesses in Slovakia.
Photo: T. Zachar Podolinská
Jana Belišová published a study in the journal Religions as part of the RELIROMA project. The publication is available in Open Access format.
Belišová, J. (2024). Sounds, Emotions, and the Body in Pentecostal Romani Communities in Slovakia. Religions, 15(5), 532. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15050532
On April 12, 2024, a professional workshop titled Bridges Out of Poverty took place at the Old Lyceum in Bratislava. The workshop focused on how churches and volunteers could work effectively in marginalized Roma communities. Tatiana Zachar Podolinská, along with Anna Polcková (ECAV, Bratislava), spoke at the event.
- The professional materials for the workshop are available HERE.
Photo: Workshop participants (Tatiana Zachar Podolinská)
At the beginning of 2024, an interdisciplinary monograph on various aspects of Slovak religiosity, church history, and religion in 20th-century Slovakia Handbuch der Religions- und Kirchengeschichte der Slowakei im 20. Jahrhundert was published by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. Among the 33 authors, the book also includes two chapters authored by T. Zachar Podolinská, T. Hrustič, and J. Majo.
- Zachar Podolinská, Tatiana – Majo, Juraj. Religiosität und Kirche in der Slowakei im 20. und 21. Jahrhundert. In Handbuch der Religions- und Kirchengeschichte der Slowakei im 20. Jahrhundert. 1. Auflage. – Göttingen : Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2024, p. 113-146.
Zachar Podolinská, Tatiana – Hrustič, Tomáš. Religion und Kirchen bei den slowakischen Roma an der Wende zum 21. Jahrhundert. In Handbuch der Religions- und Kirchengeschichte der Slowakei im 20. Jahrhundert. 1. Auflage. – Göttingen : Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2024, p. 775-790.
Picture 1: Book cover
The Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology Slovak Academy of Sciences (IESA SAS) public research organization and the Vigdís International Centre (VIC) for Multilingualism and Intercultural Understanding as public research university have signed the Framework Agreement on Cooperation to promote the development of science and research, the application of new scientific knowledge in practice, the presentation, popularization and dissemination of scientific knowledge as well as for the benefit of the development of domestic and international scientific cooperation and communication to mutually coordinated approaches in ensuring the common interests in scientific research, organizational, legislative, editorial, presentation-promotional and educational areas, as well as in other spheres of common intentions.
The Vigdís International Centre for Multilingualism and Intercultural Understanding (Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute) operates under the auspices of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, and is affiliated with the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute for Foreign Languages at the University of Iceland. For more information see: https://vigdiscentre.hi.is/en.
The Center’s Important agenda is promoting Romani studies through the special program “Roma in the Centre“. This initiative unites several Romani Studies-related projects under the auspices of the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute of Foreign Languages. The initiative is the expression of a long-term commitment to research, present, and popularise — in Iceland, in Nordic countries, in Europe, and globally — the literature and culture of the Roma/Gypsies.
For more information see: https://vigdiscentre.hi.is/en/research/roma-centre
The Framework Agreement on Cooperation is an output of the project APVV-22-0389 RELIROMA.
The text of the Agreement is available here:
The introductory meeting of the project APVV-22-0389 RELIROMA is organized by the Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology, SAV, and will take place on November 10 – 11, 2023, at the Hotel under the Linden Tree in Modra-Harmónia.
Please, find the program HERE and also the presentations by T. Z. Podolinská and J. Majo.
Pictures from the meeting
Picture 1:
Picture 2:
Picture 3:
The Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences organizes the 8th annual Academy of Romani Studies – ARS 2023 that will take place November 10, 2023, in Modra-Harmónia.
The current edition provides an opportunity for the young generation of Slovak and Czech PhD students to present their work to an expert audience and receive targeted feedback from internationally established experts in the field of Roma studies.
The event is organized in collaboration with the Seminar of Romani Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy of Charles University in Prague and is an outcome of the APVV-22-0389 project RELIROMA.
Pictures from the meeting:
Picture 1:
Picture 2:
The Principal Investigator of the APVV-22-0389 RELIROMA project, Tatiana Zachar Podolinská, participated in the organization of the world congress of the international Gypsy Lore Society (GLS) in Brazil (November 2-6, 2023, in Saõ Paolo). As part of the conference, she led a thematic panel dedicated to religiosity, spirituality, and non-religiosity among Roma worldwide. Within the panel she made an active contribution in which she presented the intentions and methodology of the RELIROMA project, and the results of research devoted to private apparitions with Christian and spiritual motifs (Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, Angels, Demons, “magic eyes”, etc.) among the Roma in Slovakia and discursive analysis of their media image in Slovak mass media (print and social media and TV).
The program of the conference is HERE.
The Book of abstracts is HERE.
Photo 1:
Photo 2: Congress Gypsy Lore Society (Elena Marushiakova)
Photo 3: Religious panel 1 (Tatiana Zachar Podolinská)
Photo 4: Religious panel 2 (Tatiana Zachar Podolinská)
Photo 5: Religious panel 3 (Tatiana Zachar Podolinská)
