by Allison Hulmes
When those who are not Romani or Traveller position themselves in this space they must not only speak the language of co-production, but practice it, if not they risk reproducing the same hierarchies that have long silenced our communities.
Co-production, at its core, is not about participation or consultation, it is about power. Co-production is a deliberate act of redistributing authority and recognising that those with lived experience are not ‘beneficiaries’ of knowledge, but co-creators of it. Yet too often, the rhetoric of co-production becomes a comfortable costume, an inclusive vocabulary that disguises unchanged structures.
In social work, we stress the importance of reflexively, not only as an exercise in self-awareness, but as an ethical stance. It requires us to interrogate our own positionality, privilege, and professional assumptions. Without it, co-production becomes another extractive practice, where communities are asked to perform authenticity to validate projects that they did not design and do not control.
Reflexivity demands that professionals ask, Why am I in this space? Whose knowledge is centred here? What power do I hold and am I willing to share or surrender it?
In the context of Romani and Traveller work, these questions are not abstract, they are historical. For centuries Romani and Traveller people have been the subjects of policy, research, and intervention, rarely its authors. When those who are not Romani and Traveller claim to ‘co-produce’ but fail to embed reflexivity, they may appear participatory, but if decisions, funding, and authorship remain in professional hands, the practice is hollow.
Reflexivity transforms this dynamic by insisting that we see ourselves in relation to systems of power. It asks practitioners to notice when their well-meaning actions reinforce dependency or control. Reflexivity also invites accountability: to question whether engagement is simply a performance of inclusion.
When the language of co-production is spoken without reflexivity, it risks turning solidarity into performance. But when reflexivity anchors practice, co-production becomes more than rhetoric, it becomes a practice of humility, reciprocity, and repair. It enables a shift from ‘working for’ or even ‘with’ to being alongside: a stance that honours both the historical wounds and the living wisdom of Romani and Traveller communities.
True co-production is not comfortable work, it is transformative work, that requires the loss of ego. Reflexivity is what keeps it honest.