Why Do Roma Migrate? A Critical Analysis of Academic Silence in Polish Scholarship

The article discusses the case of academic silence with regards to the migration of Roma from Poland – both in Polish Romani studies and in migration studies. The absence of Romani migration in migration research in Poland is contrasted with the absence of the subject of migration in Romani studies, offering a glimpse into fundamental assumptions, and politically and ideologically determined paradigms within both areas. Paradoxically, the group associated in the social imaginary with mobility is absent in migration studies in Poland. Quite surprisingly, Polish Roma are static and immobilized in Polish Romani studies. The aim ofthis paper is to critically explore this particular type of discursive silence and how it impacts migration and Romani studies.