The Vicious Circle of Roma Minority Social Exclusion in the Czech Republic

Abstract

The Czech Republic was, until recently, more or less ethnically homogeneous, although for a relatively short period of time, namely in the second half of the 20th century, because a considerable number of non-Czech inhabitants (the Germans and Hungarians) had to leave Czechoslovakia for political reasons after the World War Two. Contemporary ethnical variety of the Czech Republic is enhanced especially by migrants from East Europe and Southeast Asia. A very specific problem is the coexistence of Czech majority and Roma minority (together with migration, minorities and so on). Roma often live in disadvantaged neighbourhoods and are discriminated against in various areas of social life. They are more often unemployed and less educated; they do not get enough health care, etc., compared to the Czech majority. The main goal of problems of socially excluded locations in the Czech Republic reflection is to introduce limits of contemporary discourse about social exclusion of part of Czech citizens in connection with Roma minority as the most typical image of social exclusion.