Country of residence

Romania

Brief introduction

Programme coordinator, Impreuna Agency for Community Development

Education

Master’s degree, Sociology & Anthropology, 2005, University Paris VII Denis Diderot, Migration and Interethnic Relations / PhD student at SNSPA

Academic profile

Currently a PhD student at the Romanian National School for Political Science and Public Administration, I am interested in the idea of fostering public participation among the Roma from Romania through means of enacting the principles of empowerment. This would be based on a paradigm shift in national social inclusion policies, from the focus on passive assistance to measures of active empowerment at the grassroots level. As empowerment is a very broad concept, operationalising it into measurable indicators has brought my interest onto the main areas of social inclusion. Thus, empowerment can and should be enacted in education, housing, employment, health and public participation, which are all tangent to my research. As a co-author, I have also conducted a socio-anthropological research in the area of Roma “traditional” crafts which resulted in a report soon to be published (for now available in Romanian only). In this research I have focused on the expression of cultural identity through the practice of “traditional” crafts, as well as on the perception of respondents on the future of their crafts. Another central focus was the ability or inability to adapt to the market-driven economy following the demise of communism, and to innovate within the practice of “traditional” crafts. In my previous academic studies I have become acquainted with concepts as diaspora, identity construction, identity discourses, having studied the Palestinian community in Chile.

Publications

• A School for All? The Access of Roma Children to a Quality Education, Vanemonde, Bucharest, 2010 (co-author with Gelu Duminica)
• Abandonul scolar in randul copiilor romi: mit si realitate (School Dropout Among Roma Children: Myths and Realities), Buletin Informativ nr. 7, 2010, UNICEF
• Strategia Nationala de Imbunatatire a Situatiei Romilor: Vocea Comunitatilor (The National Strategy for Improving the Situation of the Roma: the Voice of the Communities), Expert, Bucharest, 2009 (participation in the research team; authors of the report: A.-M. Preoteasa, S. Cace, G. Duminica)

Keywords

Social inclusion policies, education, participation

Contact

Ana.ivasiuc@agentiaimpreuna.ro browse members list