Minorities & Social Justice an Interview with Dr. Andreea Cârstocea

Dr. Andreea Cârstocea is Senior Researcher and Head of the Equality and Inclusion Cluster at the European Centre for Minority Issues. Since 2023 Andreea is also Editor of the Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe, ECMI’s open access academic journal.

Andreea holds a PhD in Political Science from University College London, UK (2012). Her PhD thesis researched the ‘ethno-business’ phenomenon in Romania, a series of unexpected consequences of the post-1989 system of political representation of national minorities. Andreea also holds an MA in Human Rights from University College UK, sponsored through a British Council Chevening scholarship.

Andreea’s current research interests focus on issues of social justice, in particular issues related to socio-economic participation and inclusive education. Her expertise on socio-economic participation was recently demonstrated through her engagement as key drafter of the OSCE HCNM Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Social and Economic Life (2023). More information about Andreea can be foud here.

Andreea, What inspired you to specialise in minority rights and issues related to social justice? Were there personal experiences or key moments that influenced your academic path?

I think it was a combination of several factors. In terms of personal factors, I come from an ethnically mixed family – half of my family is Romanian, the other is Hungarian (not unusual at all in Transylvania, the region where I was born and grew up in). Growing up in a bilingual / bicultural family definitely gave me a certain sensitivity to questions of ethnic identities, especially as growing up in the ‘90s in Romania I witnessed the (sometimes intense) politicization and instrumentalization of ethnic difference.

Later on, I worked several years for the Romanian government’s body in charge with minority issues, where I was exposed to the policy side of diversity management. It was quite a formative experience, and it was around this time that I realised how entrenched inequalities can become, and therefore how important it is to push for social justice.

You co-authored the OSCE HCNM Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Social and Economic Life (2023). Which of these recommendations do you consider especially important — and what are the main challenges in implementing them?

I think these recommendations are tremendously important, because they shift a long-standing focus on political participation to socio-economic participation. One form of participation cannot meaningfully exist without the other, so I am glad that the HCNM decided to bring to prominence socio-economic rights for national minorities. In terms of which aspect is more important – here again I think we need to think holistically. To give you an example, if a person cannot find regular employment and is forced into informal work (as many Roma in Europe are), they will not have health insurance, unemployment and social benefits, which will push them into poor health, poor housing, probably debt – risking to perpetuate the cycle of poverty into the next generations. So for this reason I think all aspects of socio-economic participation are important, as they are interlinked and determine one another.

What activities did you develop as part of your focus on socio-economic participation of national minorities?

We have so far organised two workshops touching on different aspects related to socio-economic participation (SEP). Last year we brought together scholars interested in intersectional aspects of SEP; earlier this year we brought together scholars interested in the subject of business and minority rights. Both workshops will result in special issues published in reputable journals. We plan to continue this series of workshops and academic outputs into the future, touching on relevant policy areas pertaining to socio-economic participation.

In your project Marginality on the Margins of Europe, you examined the situation of Roma communities in several countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. What were the most striking findings in terms of the pandemic’s impact on these communities?

While everyone suffered the economic and social consequences of anti-Covid  measures, the impact on Roma communities was much exacerbated by their precarious (informal) employment and general poor living conditions. But perhaps the most striking was the extreme scapegoating of this community; Roma were blamed for spreading the virus and endangering society through their alleged refusal to follow anti-Covid regulations. The extreme instances of hate speech one could see on social media sometimes overspilled into real life, transforming into physical confrontation and attacks on persons belonging to this community.

You are also the Editor of JEMIE – Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe. How would you describe the journal’s thematic focus? Are there specific topics, methods, or approaches that you actively aim to include or promote?

JEMIE publishes original research on topics related to minority issues in Europe. This might sound like a very niche field, but if you look at the articles and special issues we have published over time, you will see that actually this is a broad field that allows for interdisciplinary approaches. We cover subjects such as linguistic diversity, ethnic conflict, education for national minorities, policies for diversity management – to name just a few of the topics we covered in the last year.

Could you describe your main responsibilities in this role — such as overseeing peer review, planning thematic issues, selecting reviewers, ensuring academic quality? What are the main challenges you face as an Editor?

First and foremost I have to make sure that the editorial process progresses smoothly and without many delays. There is also quite a bit of planning going on – we usually plan our General and Special Issues one year in advance, so we have to make sure everyone sticks to the schedule. In parallel we always keep an eye on our indexing and journal metrics, which are really important for attracting new authors. There are also aspects related to the editorial platform we use – I’m quite happy that this year we managed to upgrade both our editorial platform and give a fresh new look to our website. In terms of challenges, I think time is the only problem – a editing a journal swallows quite a bit of my time, leaving less time for my own research activities.