Power and Hierarchy among Finnish Kaale Roma

Abstract

Despite the vast research on Roma in Europe and beyond, little has been written about Roma agency from a perspective that focuses on manifold dynamics of power. Having worked for two years on the Finnish Roma Inclusion Project in a dual role as ethnographer and project worker has inspired me to rethink concepts of power and to create an alternative narrative of the experience of marginalized and discriminated Finnish Kaale Roma. Encouraged by the current paradigm shift in Romani Studies (which increasingly focuses on Roma agency instead of objectifying the population), this paper explores Kaale power dynamics as part of the social order and empirically demonstrates two parallel and antagonist systems of power exercised by Roma: one that stems from the population’s traditional cultural customs and the other from Pentecostal/charismatic Christianity, agrowing trend among the Finnish Kaale. The purpose of this article is to underline Roma agency within the frame of national Roma policy practices in Finland.