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Staff profile

staff list  BackDr Laura Cashman

  • Job title: Senior Lecturer
  • Dept: Applied Social Sciences
  • Tel: 01227 767700 ext 2043
  • Campus: Canterbury
Photo of Dr Laura Cashman

Lecturer in Politics and International Relations

BA (Trinity College Dublin), MPhil, MRes, PhD (Glasgow).

Teaching responsibilities

  • The Coming of Globalisation (Year 1)
  • Foreign Policy Analysis (Year 2)
  • Political Research and Practice (Year2)
  • Contemporary International Relations Theory (Year 3)
  • Ideological Wars (Year 3)
  • Critical Issues in Contemporary Politics (Year 3)
  • Individual Study (Year 3)

Research interests

The main focus of my research is minority politics in Central and Eastern Europe. More specifically I am interested in the integration of Romani communities and the impact of their migration from 'new' to 'old' EU member states. My research currently focuses on two areas.

The first looks at the specific case of Romani integration in the Czech Republic and seeks to understand how local and national politics interact and how the conflation of poverty and marginalisation with Romani ethnic identities impacts on the development of effective strategies for integration.

The second area of research exploresthe EU response to the challenge of Romani integration. EU institutions have traditionally left the management of minority politics to the member states, however, the securitisation of issues such as migration and social exclusion has added considerable weight to calls for a specific EU-Roma policy. This raises a range of questions relating to (1) the Europeanisation of minority rights policies, (2) framing Romani rights in the context of EU citizenship rights and (3) the applicability of traditional minority integration frameworks to accommodate Roma.

More broadly, I am also interested in (and willing to supervise research on):

  • International Relations in Central and Eastern Europe after the Cold War;
  • Nationalism; Czech politics and society

 

Recent publications

Journal articles

  • Cashman L, (2008) "Put your own house in order first": Local perspectives on the influence of the EU on Romani integration policies in Czech Republic, Journal of Contemporary European Research, 4 (3) pp. 193 – 208.
  • Cashman L. (2008) Developing an effective Romani integration strategy: Experiences of ethnoculturally neutral and specific policies in the Czech Republic, Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, 8 (3) pp. 595 – 618.
  • Cashman L. (2008) Remembering 1948 and 1968: Reflections on Two Pivotal years in Czech and Slovak History, Europe-Asia Studies, 60 (10) pp. 1645 – 1658.

Books

  • Cashman L. (Ed), (2009) 1948 and 1968 – Dramatic milestones in Czech and Slovak History, London: Routledge. ISBN: 978-0-415-49990-3

Chapters

  • Cashman L. (2009) Romani Teaching Assistants in the Czech Education System: An Opportunity to Address Barriers to the Labour Market? In T. Agarin and M. Brosig (eds) Minority Integration: Debating Ethnic Diversity in Eastern Europe, Amsterdam: Rodopi.
  • Cashman L. (2008) Implementing National Romani Policy at the Local Level: Experiences of the Preparatory Class Programme in Two Czech Cities, in M. Flynn, J. Oldfield and R. Kay (eds) Trans-National Issues, Local Concerns: Insights from Russia, Central and Eastern Europe and the UK, Lanham, MD: University Press of America, pp. 159 – 176.

Selected conference papers

  • Cashman, L. and Butler, E. (2010) Romani mobilities in the context of the new EU: what could or should the EU be doing? Romani mobilities in Europe: Multidisciplinary perspectives, Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford, 14 - 15 January 2010
  • Cashman, L. (2009) Romani integration in the new EU, British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies (BASEES) Annual Conference, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, March 2009.
  • Cashman, L. (2008) The Role of the EU in Romani integration policy, University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES) Annual Conference, University of Edinburgh, September 2008.
  • Cashman, L. (2008) Designing an appropriate integration strategy for Roma: Experiences of ethnocultural and socio-economic policies, Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism (ASEN) Annual Conference, London School of Economics, April 2008.
  • Cashman, L. (2007) Integrating Romani communities into Czech society: The role of the EU in the development and implementation of pro-Romani policies, Political Studies Association (PSA) Annual Conference, University of Bath, April 2007.
  • Cashman, L. (2007) Non-Territorial Cultural Autonomy and its implications for Romani communities in the Czech Republic, Roundtable Discussion: National Minority Rights and Non-Territorial Cultural Autonomy in Central and Eastern Europe, University of Glasgow, January 2007.