A lost generation? Racialisation and stalled social mobility in a group of Roma migrants in the UK

Abstract

The paper applies the notion of segmented assimilation to an inter-generational divide within a community of Roma migrants from Romania who settled in Manchester, UK. Drawing on long-term observations, we show how a successful trajectory of upward social mobility comes to a stall as the interplay between Roma-specific demographics (large families and traditional kin networks) and racialized policies sets a ‘mobility trap’, creating a ‘lost generation’ of young people who are unable to progress beyond the status of low-wage, vulnerable employee