Risk of Romani Radicalization in the Balkans: Freeing the Shackles of a Marginalized Identity

Abstrakt

This paper investigates the susceptibility of the Romani minority in the Balkans to radicalization, focusing on the Salafi community in a Serbian city. It provides insights into the experiences of a marginalized group that is often overlooked in research on radicalization.

Despite the community's commitment to nonviolence, stigmatization and exclusion incentivize individuals to seek alternative forms of belonging. However, adopting Salafism at the cost of abandoning their culture can increase their vulnerability to radicalization.

We present a preliminary model of the marginalized identity transformation to illustrate this identity shift. The article uses ethnography and narrative analysis to investigate the phenomenon.