Charting New Frontiers in Democracy: A Romani Voice in Parliament

Authors

  • Ismael Cortés Gómez Research Centre on Antigypsyism, University of Heidelberg
  • Carmen Cañete Quesada Professor of Hispanic Studies at Florida Atlantic University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29098/crs.v8i1.217

Abstract

This interview features insights from Ismael Cortés, a scholar who spoke during the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Summer Abroad Program in Spain, which Carmen Cañete has directed for a decade. In Madrid on 7 July 2022, Cortés delivered a lecture on the portrayal of criminalised Spanish Roma (Gitanos) in the “New Spanish Cinema” of the 1960s, focusing on Mario Camus’ Con el viento solano
(1965).[1] The talk sparked discussions on ethnicity, identity, and marginalisation, and the original Spanish version of this exchange was published in O Tchatchipen, a journal from the Romani Institute for Social and Cultural Affairs (IRASC). IRASC, founded by Romani activist Juan de Dios Ramírez Heredia,[2] has long worked for Romani rights in Spain. Cortés returned on 22 July 2024, to discuss the Gitano subaltern figure in Cine Quinqui[3] and further addressed the CEU Romani Studies Program, EU elections, and his ongoing projects, culminating in this bilingual interview. 

Author Biographies

  • Ismael Cortés Gómez, Research Centre on Antigypsyism, University of Heidelberg

    Ismael Cortés is a scholar and policy analyst whose work links academic research with policymaking to address structural discrimination. He is a member of the Pakiv Board of the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC). He has advanced degrees in Philosophy and Peace, Conflict, and Development Studies, earning his PhD with honours from Universitat Jaume I, Castelló de la Plana – UNESCO Chair of Philosophy. His research focuses on culture, ethics, and politics as tools for social change and has included appointments at institutions such as the University of Nottingham and Central European University. From 2019 to 2023, he was a Member of Spain’s Congress of Deputies, and from 2023 to 2024, a  Senior Policy Advisor in the European Parliament, where he influenced fundamental rights policies. Currently, he is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Heidelberg University and an Associate Professor at Universitat Jaume I, mentoring future leaders in peace building and development. 

  • Carmen Cañete Quesada, Professor of Hispanic Studies at Florida Atlantic University

    Cañete Quesada is a Professor of Hispanic Studies at Florida Atlantic University, where she has taught for fifteen years. She holds an master’s from the University of Florida and a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University. Her research interests include aspects of race, exile, and (post)coloniality in the Hispanic Caribbean and Spain since the Spanish-American War (1895–98). As a specialist in Caribbean studies, she received a 2013–2014 Fulbright Scholar Award to teach and conduct research in the Dominican Republic. Her essay “Salaria Kea and the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939): Memoirs of A Negro Nurse in Republican Spain” (Routledge 2019) was sponsored by the Schomburg Center Scholars-in-Residence Program. She was funded by the American Philosophical Society’s Franklin Research Grant to study the historical memory of Spanish Gypsies. Dr. Cañete Quesada is the director of the Wilkes Honors College Summer Abroad Program (SAP) in Universidad Complutense de Madrid, where she teaches an interdisciplinary course entitled: The Spanish Civil War in Retrospect: Loss, Memory and the Past. 

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Published

12/11/2025

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2025): Racism and Romani Studies

Section

Arts and culture

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Ismael Cortes, Carmen Cañete Quesada

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How to Cite

Charting New Frontiers in Democracy: A Romani Voice in Parliament. (2025). Critical Romani Studies, 8(1), 266-273. https://doi.org/10.29098/crs.v8i1.217