Dr Sacha Davis
Lecturer
School of Humanities, Creative Ind and Social Sci (History)
- Email:sacha.davis@newcastle.edu.au
- Phone:(02) 4921 5217
Discovering the roots of persecution of the Roma
Dr Sacha Davis’ research seeks to understand why the Roma of Central and Eastern Europe have been discriminated against for hundreds of years, a process that’s continuing today.
The Roma came to Europe in the late 14th Century via the Middle East from India. They immediately stood out with their mobile lifestyle and colourful clothing that seemed ‘exotic’ to other Europeans. They were highly skilled artisans who would travel around servicing villages, but were unwelcome competitors in the towns of Central Europe that already had an established system of guilds under the Holy Roman Empire.
It was here that the roots of stereotypes and negative attitudes towards the Roma developed and are still evident today in discriminatory policies. Dr Sacha Davis is researching why and how these beliefs developed.
“The people of this time were accustomed to living in small, quite closed communities where outsiders came and went, and often a sense of danger accompanied these outsiders. Although Roma (sometimes referred to as ‘Gypsies’, although that term is increasingly considered offensive) brought with them a lot of valued goods and skills, they were sometimes accused of petty crimes. Many practiced fortune telling and sold folk medicines, which could lead to accusations of witchcraft,” Sacha said. “Negative stereotypes of Roma as lazy or dishonest also became excuses to pay them poorly for their valuable work, suppressing wages.
Sacha says that from the 18th Century the persecution of the Roma began to intensify, and much of the negative attention came from the state.
“The big change that happened around then is the emergence of the modern state. This is when the state began to want to know where people lived so they knew who they could tax and who was available for military service; however the itinerant Roma did not fit in with this strategy.”
“One such state was the Habsburg Empire, which until the First World War encompassed large swathes of Central and Eastern Europe, including Hungary where many Roma lived. Under Empress Maria Theresa, the state began to remove Roma children from their parents on the pretext that they were not fit to care for them. The goal was to assimilate the Roma, to make them disappear as a people. It is reminiscent of Australia’s Stolen Generations and severely impacted the individuals involved. It was part of a model for ‘reform’ of the Roma that was imitated in other countries. Furthermore, the rhetoric of Roma as bad parents that was used to justify the removals continues to be influential today.”
Sacha’s journal article Competitive Civilizing Missions: Hungarian Germans, Modernization, and Ethnographic Descriptions of the Zigeuner before World War I examines writings by prominent Hungarian-German scholars who illustrate the way that Hungarian and German elites cast Roma as primitive in an effort to legitimise their different visions of ‘reform’ programs for the Roma.
Another journal article examines descriptions of Romani costume in travel narratives written by predominantly British writers visiting Hungary, believed to be the site of especially ‘pure’ Romani culture, during the long nineteenth century. These descriptions provided key sources of information on the peoples of East Europe for the British public, and reinforced and disseminated East European stereotypes about the Roma to English-speaking audiences.
Sacha says the Roma are the targets of modern-day discrimination right across Europe, often impacting on Romani children especially.
“Romani children are still disproportionately more likely to be removed from their parents. The incidence of Romani children being put into lower education classes because of their heritage is also common. Many Romani children are excluded from school entirely. Adults also experience many forms of discrimination. For example, in Britain and Ireland we see local councils being uncomfortable with the movement of Roma through their areas and the closure of campsites.”
“It’s very important to uncover where and how these problematic stereotypes and discriminatory practices originated and why so many powers tried to legitimise their control of the Roma over hundreds of years because the effect is still very much felt today.”
German Speakers in Newcastle
In a project that is closer to home, Sacha is reaching out to German speakers living in Newcastle in an effort to understand what it means to be a German in Newcastle.
“Historically German speakers have come to Newcastle in relatively large numbers with Newcastle having the highest level of German migration in Australia outside the capital cities,” Sacha said.
“I’m interested in what it means to grow up in Newcastle with a German-speaking heritage, culture and language. I’m particularly interested in people’s sense of connection to their German heritage, and to the German language. Many of the German speakers who came to Newcastle came from Eastern Europe so that is how this ties in with my other research.”
Sacha, along with his UON colleague Dr. Jaime Hunt, have had some interesting discussions with descendants of Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, Germans displaced by the advance of the Red Army in Eastern Europe at the end of the war, and refugees from Communist East Germany.
“We found that their German culture was very important to them and that there were a diverse range of ideas about what it means to be a German living in Newcastle,” he said.
The duo are keen to talk to more Novocastrians with a German-speaking heritage to broaden their study.
“I recently gave a talk on our research at the Lake Macquarie Library for History Week and it was very interesting to talk to the people who came up to me afterwards. I’d love for more people with German-speaking heritage to get in contact with me.”
Discovering the roots of persecution of the Roma
Dr Sacha Davis’ research seeks to understand why the Roma of Central and Eastern Europe have been discriminated against for hundreds of years, a process that’s continuing today.The Roma came to Europe in the late 14th Century via the Middle…
Career Summary
Biography
Research Expertise
My primary research interest is in German nationalism in Central/Eastern Europe (the former Habsburg lands) from in the late nineteenth century to the Second World War, with a focus on the interwar period. I have particular interests in German nationalism, transnationalism and diaspora. Other, related topics include Transylvanianism; landscape and nationalism; nationalism and the family; wine, food and nationalism; travel writing in Eastern Europe; and minority fascism. I am currently researching German-Romani interactions in the Habsburg and former Habsburg lands.
Recent publications include a co-edited special issue of German Studies Review on the theme "Germanness beyond Germany: Collective Identity in German Diaspora Communities" (Vol 39 No 1, 2016, co-edited with Alexander Maxwell (Victoria University of Wellington).
Qualifications
- PhD (History), University of New South Wales
- Bachelor of Arts (Honours)(History), University of New South Wales
- Post Graduate Specialisation - History, Universitatea Babes-Bolyai - Cluj Napoca - Romania
Keywords
- European History
- German History
- Germans Abroad
- Habsburg Empire and its Successor States
- History of Fascism
- History of Hungary
- History of Nationalism
- History of Romania
- Minority History
- Romani History
- Soviet History
- Transylvania
- Transylvanian Saxons
- Travel Literature
Languages
- German (Fluent)
- Finnish (Fluent)
Fields of Research
Code | Description | Percentage |
---|---|---|
430308 | European history (excl. British, classical Greek and Roman) | 50 |
430319 | Migration history | 25 |
430313 | History of empires, imperialism and colonialism | 25 |
Professional Experience
UON Appointment
Title | Organisation / Department |
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Lecturer | University of Newcastle School of Humanities, Creative Ind and Social Sci Australia |
Membership
Dates | Title | Organisation / Department |
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Member - Antipodean East European Study Group | Antipodean East European Study Group Romania |
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30/6/2012 - | Member | The Society for Romanian Studies Romania |
1/9/1998 - | Member | Arbeitskreis für Siebenbürgische Landeskunde e. V. Germany |
Publications
For publications that are currently unpublished or in-press, details are shown in italics.
Chapter (3 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | ||
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2023 | Davis S, 'Pan-German or Pan-Saxon? Framing Transylvanian-Saxon Particularism on Both Sides of the Atlantic', Pan-Nationalism as a Category in Theory and Practice, Routledge, London; New York 53-73 (2023) | ||||
2023 |
Davis SE, 'Pan-German or Pan-Saxon? Framing Transylvanian-Saxon Particularism on Both Sides of the Atlantic', Pan-Nationalism as a Category in Theory and Practice, Routledge 53-73 (2023)
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2011 | Davis SE, 'East-West discourses in Transylvania: Transitional Erdély, German-Western Siebenbürgen or Latin-Western Ardeal?', The East-West Discourse: Symbolic Geography and its Consequences, Peter Lang, Oxford 127-154 (2011) [B1] | Nova |
Journal article (14 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | ||||||||
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2023 |
Davis SE, 'Ethnophotography, Nation Branding, and National Competition in Transylvania: Emil Sigerus
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Nova | |||||||||
2023 |
Davis S, Kilmister M, Mereles A, Khamis A, 'Exhibiting History: OBL Assessment Online', Public History Weekly, 2023 (2023) [C1]
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Nova | |||||||||
2022 |
Hunt JW, Davis SE, ' So, mein Deutsch ist schlecht : echoes of societal attitudes and education language policies within the family language policies of second- and third-generation German speakers in Newcastle, Australia', International Journal of Multilingualism, 19 233-250 (2022) [C1] Family language policy research often neglects the dynamic nature of FLP over time. Here, we interview second generation members of migrant families for their recollections as her... [more] Family language policy research often neglects the dynamic nature of FLP over time. Here, we interview second generation members of migrant families for their recollections as heritage language learners and their experiences setting their own FLP towards their children. We use a transdisciplinary oral history/narrative methodology to discern oscillating attitudes concerning language maintenance and acquisition as a function of changing societal and education policy. Participants are from three families originating in waves of German-speaking migrants to Australia between the 1930s and 1970s. We find that FLP only occasionally maps onto the stages of shifting ideology, highlighting individual agency of families in setting their own FLP, although sometimes remnants of bygone ideologies enter the family through marriage. Furthermore, while participants negotiated inconsistent impacts of education policies on the availability of German classes at school, to support their FLP, they utilise forms of language education outside the school system, including travel to the German-speaking ¿homelands¿. These case studies underline the individuality of participants¿ experiences of FLP, their autonomy, and success in shaping their own language policies. Overall, it is striking how much autonomy and agency individuals and families have, considering the external forces of language education policy and language ideology discourses.
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Nova | |||||||||
2022 |
Davis S, 'Pan-German or Pan-Saxon? Framing Transylvanian-Saxon Particularism on Both Sides of the Atlantic.', Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, 28 53-73 (2022) [C1]
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Nova | |||||||||
2019 |
Davis SE, ' A most picturesque mass of rags : Romani costume and undress in nineteenth-century travel descriptions of Hungary', Patterns of Prejudice, 53 464-486 (2019) [C1] Davis examines descriptions of Romani costume in travel narratives written by predominantly British writers visiting Hungary, believed to be the site of especially ¿pure¿ Romani c... [more] Davis examines descriptions of Romani costume in travel narratives written by predominantly British writers visiting Hungary, believed to be the site of especially ¿pure¿ Romani culture, during the long nineteenth century. Travel descriptions provided key sources of information on the peoples of East Europe, for the British public, authors of popular fiction and Gipsiologists alike. However, most travellers spent little time with Roma. Consequently, they supplemented descriptions of surface details, such as Romani costume, with information from local informants and Gipsiologists¿ texts. Following these sources, travellers ethnologized Romani costume, demonstrating Orientalism and tropes of poverty, indolence, licentiousness, neglect, vanity and essentialism. In the process, travel writers reinforced and disseminated the ¿pure Romany¿ stereotype to wider audiences.
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Nova | |||||||||
2019 |
Hunt J, Davis S, 'Social and historical factors contributing to language shift among German heritage-language migrants in Australia: An overview', Linguistik Online, 100 159-180 (2019) [C1]
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Nova | |||||||||
2018 |
Davis SE, 'Hospitality networks, British travel writers, and the dissemination of competing Transylvanian claims to civilization, 1830s 1930s', Nationalities Papers, 46 612-634 (2018) [C1]
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Nova | |||||||||
2017 |
Davis SE, 'Competitive Civilizing Missions: Hungarian Germans, Modernization, and Ethnographic Descriptions of the Zigeuner before World War I', Central European History, 50 6-33 (2017) [C1]
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Nova | |||||||||
2016 |
Davis SE, 'Constructing the Volksgemeinschaft: Saxon Particularism and the Myth of the German East, 1919 1933', German Studies Review, 39 41-64 (2016) [C1]
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Nova | |||||||||
2016 |
Maxwell A, Davis SE, 'Germanness beyond Germany: Collective Identity in German Diaspora Communities', German Studies Review, 39 1-15 (2016) [C1]
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Nova | |||||||||
2014 |
Davis S, 'Wine and Modernity in the Transylvanian Saxon Imagination (1860 1930)', Central Europe, 12 136-158 (2014) [C1]
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Nova | |||||||||
2013 | Davis SE, 'Hungarians in America: Contrasting Studies. Review of Várdy, Steven Béla; Várdy, Agnes Huszár, Hungarian Americans in the Current of History and Vida, Istva´n Korne´l, Hungarian Émigrés in the American Civil War: A History and Biographical Dictionary.', H-Net Reviews, online (2013) [C3] | ||||||||||
2012 | Davis SE, 'Reflecting on the diaspora: The Transylvanian Saxon self-image and the Saxons abroad', Zeitschrift für Siebenbürgische Landeskunde, 35 150-170 (2012) [C1] | Nova | |||||||||
Show 11 more journal articles |
Review (5 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link |
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2017 | Davis SE, 'Review of Turda, Marius, Eugenics and Nation in Early 20th Century Hungary. (2017) | ||
2017 | Davis SE, 'Review of Georgescu, Tudor, The Eugenic Fortress: The Transylvanian Saxon Experiment in Interwar Romania. (2017) | ||
2015 | Davis SE, 'Review of Manz, Stefan, Constructing a German Diaspora: The Greater German Empire : 1871 1914. (2015) [C3] | Nova | |
Show 2 more reviews |
Conference (5 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | ||
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2023 |
Hunt J, Davis S, 'The complexity of factors influencing the linguistic production of Heritage-German speakers in Newcastle, Australia', Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany (2023)
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2023 |
Hunt J, Davis S, 'Language shift within a German-speaking community in regional Australia: Ideologies, utility, and attitudes', Eichstätt and Munich, Germany (2023)
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2019 |
Hunt J, Davis S, ' There s little bits, I mean... I wish there was more, but... Echoes of societal attitudes, family language policy, and education language policies on the maintenance of German among second- and third-generation speakers in Newcastle, Australia', Essen, Germany (2019)
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Show 2 more conferences |
Media (2 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | ||
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2022 | Davis S, 'A most picturesque mass of rags', (2022) | ||||
2018 |
Hunt J, Davis S, 'Deutsches Erbe / German Heritage', (2018)
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Grants and Funding
Summary
Number of grants | 4 |
---|---|
Total funding | $14,731 |
Click on a grant title below to expand the full details for that specific grant.
20221 grants / $4,953
German as a Heritage Language and Culture in Newcastle and the Hunter Valley Australia Phase 2$4,953
Funding body: Australian Linguistic Society
Funding body | Australian Linguistic Society |
---|---|
Project Team | Doctor Jaime Hunt, Doctor Sacha Davis |
Scheme | Research Grant |
Role | Investigator |
Funding Start | 2022 |
Funding Finish | 2022 |
GNo | G2200666 |
Type Of Funding | C3100 – Aust For Profit |
Category | 3100 |
UON | Y |
20211 grants / $1,260
CHSF Early Advice Scheme 2021$1,260
Funding body: College of Human and Social Futures | University of Newcastle
Funding body | College of Human and Social Futures | University of Newcastle |
---|---|
Scheme | CHSF - Early Advice Scheme |
Role | Lead |
Funding Start | 2021 |
Funding Finish | 2021 |
GNo | |
Type Of Funding | Internal |
Category | INTE |
UON | N |
20191 grants / $5,000
Faculty of Education and Arts New Start Grant$5,000
Funding body: Faculty of Education and Arts, University of Newcastle
Funding body | Faculty of Education and Arts, University of Newcastle |
---|---|
Scheme | New Start Grants |
Role | Lead |
Funding Start | 2019 |
Funding Finish | 2019 |
GNo | |
Type Of Funding | Internal |
Category | INTE |
UON | N |
20171 grants / $3,518
German as a heritage language in Newcastle and the Hunter$3,518
Funding body: Australian Linguistic Society
Funding body | Australian Linguistic Society |
---|---|
Project Team | Doctor Jaime Hunt, Doctor Sacha Davis |
Scheme | Research Grant |
Role | Investigator |
Funding Start | 2017 |
Funding Finish | 2017 |
GNo | G1601158 |
Type Of Funding | C3200 – Aust Not-for Profit |
Category | 3200 |
UON | Y |
Research Supervision
Number of supervisions
Current Supervision
Commenced | Level of Study | Research Title | Program | Supervisor Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | PhD | The Virtue of Sacrifice in Germanic Pagan Societies | PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Principal Supervisor |
2023 | PhD | The Hoplite Charge at the Battle of Marathon: A Historical and Physiological Study | PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Principal Supervisor |
2022 | PhD | Power Plays and the Intricate Web of Symbolism in Spanish Royal Portraits with Dwarfs. | PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Co-Supervisor |
2022 | PhD | The Human Element of Magic: Body Magic in Context | PhD (Classics), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Principal Supervisor |
2021 | PhD | A Shared Global History of the Impact of War? The Chinese Labour Corps Among Labour Corps Under the British Empire in World War I | PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Principal Supervisor |
2021 | PhD | 'Mary, Our Mother: Marian Devotion in the Development of Malta's Nationalism' | PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Principal Supervisor |
2020 | PhD | Australia and Weary Titans: Australia’s Defence Relationship with Great Powers in Relative Decline, 1870-1968 and 2010-2015 | PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Principal Supervisor |
2019 | PhD | Bulgaria and Europe: An Examination of the East-West Dichotomy | PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Principal Supervisor |
2019 | PhD | The Necromancers: Interpretations of modern spiritualism as magic, occultism, nercromancy and witchcraft. | PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Co-Supervisor |
Past Supervision
Year | Level of Study | Research Title | Program | Supervisor Type |
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2021 | PhD | A Dangerous Dependency: American Defence Trade and its Impact on Australian Strategy and Capability, 1941–2020 | PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Principal Supervisor |
Dr Sacha Davis
Position
Lecturer
School of Humanities, Creative Ind and Social Sci
College of Human and Social Futures
Focus area
History
Contact Details
sacha.davis@newcastle.edu.au | |
Phone | (02) 4921 5217 |
Links |
Personal webpage Personal webpage |
Office
Room | CT 228 |
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Building | CT Building |
Location | Callaghan University Drive Callaghan, NSW 2308 Australia |