Work and the Access to Income among Gypsies

Virtualities and Limitations of the Reading of the Notion of Social Exclusion in Understanding the Situation of Gypsies

Abstract

The purpose of this text is to reflect on the relationship between the Roma population and the labour market, as well as on the participation of Gypsies in systems in modern societies - qualification system, social protection system - based on interviews conducted in disqualified spaces in some Portuguese cities (Lisbon, Porto, Braga and Évora), as well as relevant institutional representatives and technicians working on the ground with this population. Taking as a reference framework the formulations that have known the notion of exclusion, their reading possibilities are taken into consideration here to understand the gypsy situation, also questioning the limitations of these readings as arrays of policy creation and insertion practices. This reflection is developed around the discourses of the gypsies seeking to account for the dynamics of transformation that this group goes through, also because of the effects of social policies and measures.