Jelena Savic

The focus of my work is digital inequality from a marginalized Roma women's perspective. The monograph scrutinizes digital realm from the intersectional framework leveraging decolonial, feminist, Critical Race, Critical Roma Theory and Theory of Whiteness. It navigates the politics of racialization in the digital domain, pioneering the feminist intersection of Critical Digital Humanities and Roma-related research and politics.

I acquired my MA in Philosophy in 2018 studying at the Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, in the Department of Philosophy, and graduated with the theses “The Missing Link: Scientific Sexism, Racism, and Speciesism," having Katalin Farkas as a supervisor.

I hold a BA and an MA degree in Adult Education from the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade, Serbia, and my thesis, “The Barriers for Roma Students to Use Affirmative Measures in Higher Education in Serbia,” was done under supervisor Miomir Despotovic in 2015.

I have more than twenty years of engagement with Roma and feminist movement. My work experience includes engagement with the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, consultancy for UNICEF, Serbia, cooperation with Open Society Foundations, Roma Education Fund, and other civil society organizations.

One of my interest are comics, literary theory, language and performative poetry.

Except for the digital cultures and gender studies, my focus is on epistemic injustice and the creation of a critical Roma epistemology. I am the author of such concepts as: European Gadjo supremacy, Gadjo privileges, Gadjo fragility, Gadjo burden, Gadjo masks, etc.

My organized courses:

In 2023, in cooperation with the Center for Cultural Decontamination in Serbia, I co-authored a program for a summer school "Racism Without Racist: Institutions of Culture and Heritage" with Ana Sladojević, an independent curator, as a part of the "Black Sheep Academy", an independent platform for critical Romany approaches I established. The main anticipated outcome of the school was ability to understand race in European and especially Balkan context through the institutional approaches to culture and heritage.

My recently published work includes:

2023. “In the Nest of the She-Dragon: Multiple discrimination of Roma Women in Serbia Within the Context of European Gadjo Suprematism [U Zmajičinom Gnezdu: Beda Romskih Ženskih Ljudskih Prava u Srbiji Unutar Konteksta Evropske Gadžovanske Supremacije] in Treća, Politike Promicanja Ljudskih Prava Danas XXV, no. 1 (2023): 35–56

2022. “Gadjo privileges.” Conference paper, Critical Approaches to Romany Studies Conference, Södertörn university, Södertörn, 18-19 February 2022 (to be published in Critical Romany Studies).

2022. “Drunken whites” in A Lexicon Of Decoloniality In Eastern Europe: How to Decolonise an Art Organization, edited by Ana Vilenica, kuda.org

2022. “E Laute Bašalen Taj Roven: Roma Voices of Sorrow.” In The Romani Canon Project. European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC)

My recent public talks include:

2023. "Women's Gadjo Burden: Critical Roma Approaches to Post-Socialist Feminism." Lecture held at the Master of Eastern European and Eurasian Studies, subject Gender and Social Movements in Southeast Europe, ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - Universita di Bologna, Forli, Italy, February 2, 2022.

2022. “Resistance from the Margins: Recognizing a New Paradigm. Panel discussion at the international conference "Anticolonial Museum", Museum of African Art, Belgrade, Serbia, October 22, 2022.

2022. „Klasse Gemacht? Über Soziale Gerechtigkeit Und Rassismus.“ 2022. Panel discussion with Fatima el-Tayeb, in the organization of NDO Bundeskongress, at the conference "KOMM.UNITY! Welche Klasse hat Rassismus?", Berlin, Germany, October 6, 2022.

2022. Queerness as whiteness in the context of European Gadjo supremacy", a conference within the Europride program, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, Belgrade, Serbia, September 13, 2022

2022. Book presentation "FEMIZID. Krieg Gegen Frauen" and discussion with Rita Segato, Volksbühne theater, Berlin, Germany, June 18, 2022.

Some of my artistic publications are:

2023. Published poetry in the spring online edition of the University of Chicago's independent journal "Packingtown Review"

2016. Published poetry in the anthology "Cat Painters: An Anthology of Contemporary Serbian Poetry", ed. D. Đurić, B. D. Obradović, Dialogos, New Orleans

2004. One of the authors of the collection "Discursive bodies of poetry: Poetry and poetics of the new generation of women poets" AŽIN, Belgrade, Serbia

2004. Book of poetry "Explosive Pieces", Matica Srpska, Belgrade, Serbia

Some of my visual essays covering the topics from my papers are available online.

Recently, I started a series of digital comics on the topic of Roma and mental health you will find on the link below.

Also, my poetry including theoretical and political reflection on different issues related to gender, Roma politics, and other interesting topics is available on the link below.