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Los Estados-nación han reforzado la vinculación entre identidad y territorio delimitado por fronteras. En los últimos años, la comunidad gitana, con su definición como un pueblo que ni tiene ni quiere un territorio, ha iniciado un proceso que está transformando la relación entre territorio e identidad tanto en la Unión Europea como en la teoría social. El parlamento europeo recogió y aprobó por unanimidad la principal conclusión del precedente de INCLUD-ED, el proyecto RTD WORKALÓ, del V Programa Marco de Investigación: el reconocimiento del pueblo gitano. Esa investigación aportó el análisis de la identidad transterritorial gitana, uno de los mejores ejemplos reales de que disponemos como modelo de la globalización. El impacto de esa nueva concepción no sólo ha llegado a la política, sino también a las ciencias sociales, en las cuales autores como Beck, Habermas o Touraine han criticado el nacionalismo metodológico para analizar los actuales fenómenos sociales. ; The Nation States have reinforced the connection between identity and territory demarcated by borders. Over the last years, the Roma community, defined as a people that do not have nor want a territory, have started a process that is transforming the relationships between territory and identity both in the European Union as well as in the social theory. The European parliament gathered and approved by unanimity the main conclusion of INCLUD-ED's background project, the RTD Project WORKALÓ, from the V Framework Programme of Research: the recognition of the Roma People. This research provided the analysis of the Roma transterritorial identity, one of the best real example as a model of the globalization. The impact of this new conception not only has influenced politics but also the social sciences, in which authors such as Beck, Habermas or Touraine have criticized the methodological nationalism to analyze current social phenomena.

This article explains how the RTD Workaló project "The Creation of New Occupational Patterns for Cultural Minorities: The Gypsy Case (2001–2004)" and its research methodology led to institutional recognition of the Roma people by the European Union. The communicative methodology used in the Workaló project enabled representatives of the Roma to participate directly throughout the research. This has a scientific, political, and social impact. The Workaló case and other subsequent research projects reveal that when research is carried out following a communicative method, that is, by building scientific knowledge in dialogue with the object of study (in this case the Romani people), the results have a real impact on the lives of the most vulnerable. In conclusion, the egalitarian inclusion of the subjects throughout the study could turn the research process itself into a method for real social transformation.