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Abstract: 

Katinka Mari is particularly interested in examining the current state of research on how science explained the supposed racial differences of Roma communities. In this paper, she examines the historiography of eugenics in East Central Europe. She analyzes two questions: first, how eugenics in the East Central European region has been precisely characterized, and what changes can be identified in the scholarship; and second, in what ways the study of Roma has been incorporated into the national historiographies of eugenics in the region. Mari considers this important because the historiography of the Pharrajimos is inseparable from an analysis of the processes of racialization that underpinned the persecution of Roma communities. In her essay, she briefly outlines the concept of eugenics, and then presents three books that specifically address eugenics in the East Central European region. She examines the similarities and differences that emerge in the historiography, as well as which national historiographies include research on Roma populations. Finally, she discusses studies that particularly focus on the racialization of Roma in East Central Europe. 

Bio: 

Katinka Mari comes from Hungary. After graduating from high school, she lived and worked in Germany and Switzerland. Coming back to Budapest, she graduated from Eötvös Loránd University with a BA in German Studies in 2023. Her thesis explored the historical and literary aspects of the Roma Holocaust. She continued her studies in the Roma Graduate Preparation Program at Central European University to further her research on the Porrajmos. She is currently studying at CEU, where she is pursuing her two-year master’s program in Historical Studies, and researching the Hungarian eugenics movement and its representation of the Roma.

The Seminar is supported by the project “Inclusive History of East-Central Europe: Mid-19th Century to Present” funded by European Research Council.