Who is taking children away? Contextualizing risk amongst and prejudices against Czech- and Slovak-speaking Roma living in Glasgow.

The recent media  frenzy about alleged cases of 'abduction' of children by Roma in Greece, Ireland and elsewhere and the swift 'targeting' of Roma and their families by authorities and the public  in different countries  was a poignant reminder that the stereotypes of Gypsies as child kidnappers and a 'menace' to the (European) society continue to persist. Based on my ethnographic fieldwork undertaken in 2012 in Glasgow (i.e. prior to the above coverage), the paper discusses the opposite case, i.e. the risk of Roma children being taken away from their families. By giving an empirical account of how this theme emerged in a contested process and providing a wider context to the practices and understandings of actors in the field, the paper problematizes objective conceptualisations of risk and raises questions about how and by whom risk is defined.