The national strategy for Roma inclusion in Italy: between contradictions and loss of responsibilities

After decades of emergency initiatives and a widespread institutional disengagement, in 2012, Italy adopted the National Strategy for the inclusion of Roma, Sinti and Caminanti communities, which opts for a unifying approach to dealing with the Roma presence. Even though in its formal objectives, the Strategy aims at overcoming the fragmentation of the policies focused on the Roma, seven years after its implementation only disconnected, often inconsistent, interventions have followed. The article examines whether and to what extent the implementation of this document has represented a break with the ambiguities and contradictions that characterised the structure of the relevant policies aimed at Roma integration in Italy before 2012. The analysis highlights a failed activation of the beneficiaries of the strategy in terms of both empowerment and participation in the decision-making arena. Although the strategy represents an unavoidable step–at least from a formal point of view–towards a coordinated approach to a controversial issue, it has failed to trigger virtuous circles able to affect the life conditions of the Roma, which remain alarming.