THREE ROMA GROUPS FROM IRIS – A FRAGMENTED ETHNOGRAPHY
THREE ROMA GROUPS FROM IRIS – A FRAGMENTED ETHNOGRAPHY
Author(s): Zsuzsa PlainerSubject(s): Social Sciences
Published by: Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai
Keywords: Roma; ethnic classification; underclass; Cluj; images.
Summary/Abstract: Ethnographic description of Roma communities from Iris, a Cluj neighbourhood, proposes to deconstruct typical images on the” Gypsies” – regarded as poor, uneducated an evil. Complexity and contextualisation in representing “Gypsy-ness” is revealed through different classificatory systems, in- and outward categorizations made by all local Roma and non-Roma groups. Roma relations to institutions is a special focus for this study, forasmuch local school, NGO, church, are all relevant sites for producing and reproducing socio-culturally shaped practices and images. Reasons for deconstructing the essentialist subject of “the Gypsies” are to highlight differences between Roma as subject for policy-making and social surveys and Roma life experienced through narratives.
Journal: Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai - Studia Europaea
- Issue Year: 54/2009
- Issue No: 4
- Page Range: 157-184
- Page Count: 28
- Language: English