Anna Bracic, Michigan State

Abstract: This book proposes a theory of how individual behavior contributes to social exclusion, a novel method for measuring that behavior, and examines one intervention that aims to fight it. Based on original fieldwork among Central and Eastern European Roma and non-Roma, I develop a theory I call the exclusion cycle, through which anti-minority culture gives rise to discrimination by members of the majority, and minority members develop survival strategies. Members of the majority resent these strategies, assuming that they are endemic to the minority group rather than an outcome of their own discriminatory behavior. To illustrate my theory, I include an analysis of a video game I created that simulates interactions between Roma and non-Roma participants, which members of these groups played through avatars (thereby avoiding contentious face-to-face interactions). The results demonstrate that majority members discriminate against minority members even when minority group members behave in ways identical to the majority. They also show the way in which minority members develop survival mechanisms. I draw on the results of the simulation to offer evidence that this cycle can be broken through Roma-led NGO-promoted intergroup contact.