Martin Kovats, András Bíró, Ernő Kállai and István T. Kerékgyártó discuss the role of the so-called gypsy question in Hungarian history. The contemporary situation, however, is different from theprevious cases, in as much as the Roma identity became a political identity too. The marginalisation of the gypsy population and the low social prestige of the Roma undermine the trust in the political movements and parties. Another new feature is the preference of the Hungarian state for separate ethnicly-based politics.

The economy of the Roma is part of the economy of the social majority. The sources of gypsy livelihood are dependent on the economy of the society in general, which expects integration from minorities. After 1990, in all countries in Eastern Europe the gypsy was the first social group to be hit by the economic downturn, and they were also ignored by land reforms. Their positions in the labour markets are catastrophic.

Outline of a book published in Dutch, English, German and Hungarian on the past and future of the phenomenon that is widely called globalisation.