'Going up to England': Exploring Mobilities among Roma from Eastern Slovakia

After Slovakia joined the European Union in 2004, some of the East Slovakian Roma were among the first migrants to choose the labour migration path to the UK. This article explores connections between the various forms of mobility of these Slovakian Roma. It focuses on their attempts to engage in existential mobility-which condition their physical movement to the place of destination-and on their hopes for upward socio-economic mobility. The paper shows how the successful returning migrants have established new hierarchies and contributed to the crystallising of an imaginary of 'England as a great splendour'. It examines the idiom of 'going up', and argues for seeing the Roma's recent migration as a potential means by which to carve out a sense of a viable life and of autonomy amidst the oppressive circumstances and the asymmetrical relations they have with non-Roma dominant groups and non-related Roma. The article also explores the unequally distributed possibilities and inequalities that migrants encounter on their journeys towards realising their hopes and dreams in migration. Finally, consideration is given to the embeddedness of recent migration in the Roma's daily modes of interaction, sociability of constant movement and reciprocal relations within kin and friendship networks. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.