Portugal will have a new national study on gypsy communities, of quantification, but also characterization, which should start in May, is expected to last two years and will be prepared by an academic consortium.
The study is financed by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), following a public competition, in which the project presented by the Institute of Sociology of the Faculty of Arts of Porto and the Center for Research and Studies in Sociology (CIES) won. , from ISCTE – Lisbon University Institute.
Speaking to the Lusa agency, Maria Manuela Mendes, from the CIES team, stated that the study should begin to be carried out soon, in principle in May, taking into account that we still have to wait for the deadline for other projects to challenge the result. of the contest.
The researcher added that the objective is to “do a new study on the gypsy population” after the previous one was published in 2014, and update the diagnosis and knowledge about gypsy communities.
“Until we move forward on other fronts, namely deeper historical knowledge about the presence of gypsy people in Portugal, which is something that is not very developed and there is not much knowledge produced in this regard”, he explained.
Maria Manuela Mendes said that the project's financing is for two years, estimating that it will be completed in May 2026. She added that there will be partial results that will be released, in addition to planning publications, events for the presentation and discussion of results, which will include organizations, activists and members of the gypsy community.
According to the researcher, the study will include projects with the gypsy community, which will “provide a type of consultancy to the project”, in addition to two national surveys, covering the continent and islands.
“There will be a survey of the Portuguese gypsy population, with a very large sample, and a survey also of the non-gypsy population about gypsies, about the representations they have in relation to the gypsy population”, he said.
He added that there will be a qualitative component of in-depth study and ethnographic work “in some communities that experience more complicated and, possibly, more precarious housing situations, in different areas of the country”.
He said that the study will seek to find out how many gypsy people live in Portugal, but will also have “a qualitative component, with interviews, life stories” and sociological portraits about “some profiles of gypsy people and families”.
Maria Manuela Mendes highlighted that this historical component will have “a lot of emphasis”, with there also being components such as participatory workshops with gypsy people, or exhibitions.
“I think it will be a very interesting job”, he pointed out.
The first, and so far only, national study on gypsy communities, commissioned by the High Commission for Migrations, carried out in 2014, based on interviews with 1.599 gypsy people, revealed that Portuguese gypsies had low levels of education, married early and made street vending the main economic activity.
Comments