The “Good Marriage” among Gabori Roma: Between Aristocratic Ideology, Egalitarian Utopia, and Singular Contingencies

Abstract

The Gabori Roma of Transylvania present themselves and are perceived as a “traditional Roma community” claiming to be highly endogamous. For these Roma, as for others, marriage constitutes the “crucial point” of their society, to borrow Patrick Williams’ phrase: marriage validates, publicly embodies, and reproduces belonging to the group. This article focuses on how Gabori marriage practices accommodate two essentially dissonant sets of values: on the one hand, the brotherly utopia that proclaims absolute equality among Roma, and, on the other, the ideology of descent that describes a “Gabori nation” structured along noble ranks. The two repertoires variously materialize, clash, or mix within the realm of marriage, revealing how Roma society never ceases to develop in complex and dynamic ways.