Racialization, Gender, and Political Participation: A Comparative Study of Romani Women in Sweden and Italy

This paper examines how processes of racialization intersect with gender and right-wing populism to shape the political participation of Romani women in contemporary Europe. Focusing on Sweden and Italy as contrasting yet illustrative case studies, the analysis explores how national discourses, party politics, and institutional frameworks differentially construct Romani women as political subjects or render them invisible. Drawing on intersectionality and Political Opportunity Structure theory, the study highlights how racialized exclusion is gendered in specific ways. Romani women experience political marginalization not only as members of a racialized minority, but also through gendered norms within both majority society and minority political structures. As a result, formal opportunities for participation often remain inaccessible or symbolic. In Sweden, where multicultural policies and strong gender-equality frameworks coexist with growing nationalist and anti-minority rhetoric, Romani women are formally included in consultative spaces yet face subtle forms of exclusion, limited influence, and epistemic marginalization. In Italy, where Romani lack formal minority recognition, right-wing populist narratives more explicitly racialize Romani minorities as a threat to national identity, while gendered stereotypes portray Romani women as either vulnerable or culturally backward, further restricting their political legitimacy and access. Based on policy analysis and qualitative interviews with experts and Romani women active in the political sphere, the paper argues that racialization operates as a gendered mode of governance, shaping who is recognized as a legitimate political actor and whose voices are heard. By centering Romani women, the study demonstrates how political participation is conditioned by intersecting inequalities, while also highlighting the creative strategies women employ to assert agency in increasingly restrictive political environments.