Country of residence

Belgium

Brief introduction

Education

PhD, Social Sciences: Anthropology, 2006, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium

Academic profile

I completed my PhD in social sciences in 2006 with a thesis on New Travellers in Britain. My work with Gypsies, Roma and Travellers has laid the foundations for a wider interest in migration issues. I also worked on immigration policies. Moreover, my academic and work experience has led me to consider the issue of mental illness from a sociological and therapeutic point of view. I have especially concentrated on a sociological approach which analyses patients’ migration from one clinic to another and worked on a definition. The data showed that most patients wanted to remain in an institutionalised setting and this result has shed a different light on issues of social reintegration. My present research is on the use of ICTs by Gypsies and Travellers in the UK. My intention is to analyze the social transformations in the lifestyle of Gypsies and Traveller caused by the spread of ICTs to see if and how they have adapted ICTs to their needs and how these technologies have changed the political action and the everyday life of these groups.

Publications

• 2010 « The Web Against Discrimination? Internet and Gypsies/Travellers Activism in Britain ». In Stewart, M., Rövid, M. 2010. Multi-Disciplinary Approaches to Romany Studies. Budapest: CEU.
• 2009 Sur les routes. Le phénomène des New Travellers. Foreward by Judith Okely. Éditions Imago, Paris.
• 2006 « La législation concernant les New Travellers en Grande Bretagne : Nomadisme et identité aux marges de la légalité ». Published in October/November 2006. In Études Tsiganes.

Keywords

Travellers, ICT, the politics of socio-cultural minorities, Diasporas, the alternatives to socio-economic exclusion

Contact

Marcelo.frediani@skynet.be browse members list