A tale of one home, one fence, and one bridge: Roma and non-Roma perspectives

IF 0.2 4区社会学 Q4 ANTHROPOLOGY

Romani Studies Pub Date : 2021-06-01 DOI:10.3828/RS.2021.4

M. Witkowski, E. Nowicka

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Abstract:In this article, the authors unveil the social context surrounding a publicly funded project to improve the extremely poor housing conditions of a Roma community in Poland. The focus was on one Carpathian mountain village in which a Bergitka Roma settlement has existed for more than 80 years. A brand-new apartment house for the local Roma minority partly replaced the earlier settlement in a village populated by Górale, a highlander group that is the local majority. At present about 70 Roma live in the new building. The ethnographic material was obtained during fieldwork carried out in 1994–2017. Herein the authors reconstruct the most significant moments in this investment from different points of view: the Roma and non-Roma neighbors. Each side interprets the fact in its own, rather paradoxical manner; each side has learned different new things in the process. The ambitious housing policy undoubtedly led to improvement of the Roma standard of living; it did not, however, increase the extent of their integration. The natural geology as well as manmade elements (e.g. a fence and a bridge) create and maintain boundaries. Nevertheless, analysis of the broader social context is decidedly more crucial than an analysis of facts. Ultimately, the sense of such publicly funded housing projects needs to be scrutinized from the diverse perspectives within the local community.

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一个家、一道栅栏和一座桥的故事：罗姆人和非罗姆人的视角

摘要：在这篇文章中，作者揭示了一个公共资助项目的社会背景，该项目旨在改善波兰罗姆人社区极其恶劣的住房条件。焦点是喀尔巴阡山脉的一个村庄，那里的Bergitka罗姆人定居点已经存在了80多年。为当地罗姆少数民族建造的一栋全新的公寓楼在一定程度上取代了当地多数高地人Górale居住的村庄中的早期定居点。目前约有70名罗姆人住在这座新大楼里。民族志材料是在1994-2017年进行的实地调查中获得的。在此，作者从不同的角度重建了这项投资中最重要的时刻：罗姆人和非罗姆人的邻居。每一方都以自己的、相当矛盾的方式来解释这一事实；在这个过程中，双方都学到了不同的新东西。雄心勃勃的住房政策无疑提高了罗姆人的生活水平；然而，这并没有增加它们的一体化程度。自然地质和人造元素（如围栏和桥梁）创造并维持边界。然而，对更广泛的社会背景的分析显然比对事实的分析更为重要。最终，需要从当地社区的不同角度来审视这种公共资助住房项目的意义。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Romani Studies Social Sciences-Cultural Studies

CiteScore

0.80

自引率

50.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Founded in 1888, the Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society was published in four series up to 1982. In 2000, the journal became Romani Studies. On behalf of the Gypsy Lore Society, Romani Studies features articles on many different communities which, regardless of their origins and self-appellations in various languages, have been referred to in English as Gypsies. These communities include the descendants of migrants from the Indian subcontinent which have been considered as falling into three large subdivisions, Dom, Lom, and Rom. The field has also included communities of other origins which practice, or in the past have practiced, a specific type of service nomadism. The journal publishes articles in history, anthropology, ethnography, sociology, linguistics, art, literature, folklore and music, as well as reviews of books and audiovisual materials.