Country of residence

Bulgaria

Brief introduction

Senior research assistant, Institute for Study of Societies and Knowledge

Education

PhD in Sociology, 2010, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences-Institute of Sociology

Academic profile

My research field is ethnic sociology and social psychology: ethnicity, identity, intergroup relations, stereotyping, the social psychology of stigma; intercultural communication; public sphere and image-making, image assertion in media with the special focus on Roma people; Roma community and community media; alternative public spheres (i.e. diaspora media), Roma (minority) journalists, positive action vs. positive discrimination in case of Roma. Research methods applied: content analysis, structures interviews, in-depth interviews, focus groups, life- course analysis. Scientific contributions:

• Elaborated a complex theoretical framework for conceptualization of media image of Roma community in Bulgaria, containing both socio-historical knowledge and media representations.
• Research of both ethnic community broadcasts and broader polemic broadcasts, dedicated to ethnic diversity in Bulgaria and the UK.
• Analyzed the relevance of Roma media representations in community broadcasts against the priorities of the Decade of Roma Inclusion (2005-2015).
• Outlined the role and contribution of the journalists, belonging to ethnic Roma group, in pozitivizing community image in media.
• Studying successful people of Roma origin, who represent good socio-professional patterns into the mainstream society (i.e.  Roma journalists, Roma entrepreneurs, Roma musicians, Roma University and college graduates, etc.)

Publications

• Launching of first Roma community broadcast in the region of Sliven, Bulgaria – “Integral” at radio “Bimako”; radio-anchor (1999).
• Launching a Roma Culture Initiative-funded project on “The Role of Roma Minority Media for Integration of Roma”, involving in-depth interviews with the Roma journalists in Bulgaria, monitoring and analyzing the proficiency of the Roma electronic media in Bulgaria; determining the impact of the minority media on the perceptions of the community and preparing policy recommendations (2002-2003).
• Recognition and study of successful people of Roma origin, who represent good socio-professional patterns into the mainstream society and would serve as role models to their community (i.e.  Roma journalists, Roma entrepreneurs, Roma musicians , Roma University and college graduates, etc.)

Keywords

Roma, media, identity, ethnicity

Contact

svetlana_hristova@hotmail.com browse members list