ARTBRUT

© Marika Schmiedt

Am 23.März 2013 nahm ich an der Podiumsdiskussion „Wer spricht in der Antiziganismusforschung?“ in Berlin teil. Es fand im Rahmen der Bookrelease von Antiziganistische Zustände 2 statt.
Weitere TeilnehmerInnen der Podiumsdiskussion waren Jacques Delfeld jun. (Leiter des Referats Beratung beim Dokumentations- und Kulturzentrum Deutscher Sinti und Roma), Markus End, Anna Friedrich (beide vom Forum Antiziganismuskritik).

Ich denke, dass sie mich eingeladen haben um sagen zu können es war eine Romni dabei. Ich finde allein schon der Begriff Antiziganismusforschung ist problematisch und diskriminierend. Die rassistische Fremdbezeichnung „Zigeuner“ ist darin enthalten und dadurch findet eine ständige Reproduktion statt. Keiner der PodiumsteilnehmerInnen hat meine Kritik zu denken gegeben und die diskriminierende Bezeichnung wurde während des Podiumsgesprächs weiterverwendet. Markus End verwies darauf, dass es Roma selber benutzen und „das Antiziganismus ein Begriff ist, der dazu dient zu beschreiben, „was in mancher Menschen Kopf vorgeht“ wenn sie rassistisch handeln, aber die AutorInnen…

How I crashed into the glass-ceiling

A few months ago I wrote about the problems with funding civil society, and Roma civil society in particular; how EU funds (in particular structural funds) but also project-focused funding stimulate false reporting, rationalizing failures, useless by expensive meetings and trainings, and corruption. Incentives for grassroots work, learning from failures, critical thinking, participation and sharing responsibilities of the vulnerable groups are missing.

I thought I might work to change things for the better from inside a European intergovernmental organization, as my efforts to make changes from outside had failed. So I applied for a job in Brussels with one of the most important donor intergovernmental organizations in Europe. I was a perfect fit for the job description and requirements. The job deals with Roma issues and is instrumental in setting up the priorities for funding targeting Roma social inclusion. I had all the requested…

Brussels – incentives against reform

The European Structural Funds are no help for European civil society organisations (NGOs) in general, and have a toxic effect on Central and Eastern European NGOs. They create dependency on governments and transform NGOs into governmental contractors for the delivery of difficult/risky social services; a job disliked by governments. The European Structural Funds facilitate corruption and inhibit criticism. They also destroy the credibility of watch-dog organisations.

Other available EU funds (direct grants from the EC) are poorly designed and the selection process is more a lottery than a healthy competition. They are also exclusive (small and medium sized grassroots NGOs have very little chance to access such funds) and have serious inbuilt incentives for false reporting and sugar coating.

None of what I have written above is news. These things are well known within both European civil society and the European Commission. I wrote a…