Example ethnicity and race dissertation topic 2:

Human rights and the Traveller community: A right not to roam?

With a specific focus on the 1980s reforms relating to the need for councils to provide caravan sites for Travellers and the subsequent battles from the mid 1990s onwards, (most recently at sites such as Dale Farm, in Essex), this is a dissertation that addresses not only a contemporary, ‘live’, human rights issue but also issues of prejudice, racial stereotyping and the extent to which adherence to the law is a requirement of all, regardless of ethnic considerations. Whilst the Traveller community claims ‘minority rights’, this dissertation questions whether such a position is legitimate for those who choose to live in locations (regardless of planning constraints) that appear to demonstrate their rejection of ‘the right to roam’ in preference for a ‘settled’ permanent home .

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Home, R. (2012). ‘Forced eviction and planning enforcement: The Dale Farm Gypsies’, International Journal of Law in the Built Environment, Vol. 4(3), pp. 178-188.
• Niner, P. (2003). Local authority Gypsy/Traveller sites in England. London: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
• Niner, P. (2004). ‘Accommodating nomadism? An examination of accommodation options for Gypsies and Travellers in England’, Housing Studies, Vol. 19(2), pp. 141-159.