Community and society dimensions in the activities of Belgrade Roma organisations in interwar Yugoslavia

On the base of an overview of the formal and informal Roma organisations in interwar Yugoslavia, the paper looks into the entanglement, transformation and adaptation of more “traditional” Romani community practices and the community's civil and national identity development in the context of the general Yugoslav society. These processes are discussed in the context of the emerging Romani nationalism and civil rights movement in Yugoslavia and Southeast Europe. Additionally, they are explored in regards to the larger context of social and political transformations in South Eastern Europe in 19th and early 20th century. Departing from the definition of Elena Marushiakova and Vesselin Popov of Roma as intergroup ethnic community that has always existed in at least in two main dimensions: as a community and as part of the society, the paper looks into how community practices are transformed in the new realities and how, in the social and public space, are intertwined and co-existing practices of importance for both the ethnic (Roma) and national (Serbian, Yugoslavian) identity of the Roma citizens in interwar Yugoslavia. These processes will be contrasted and compared with the developments taking place in the USSR in the same period where large-scale emancipatory activities were taking place.