Ritual impurity and kinship in a Gypsy
            <i>osada</i>
            in eastern Slovakia

Budilová, Lenka; Jakoubek, Marek

doi:10.3828/rs.2005.1

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…On the other hand, the position of leader, vajda or king, is still present in the Vlachico Roma communities prevalent in western and southern parts of the Slovak Republic [ 45 ]. While even in the recent past, relations within extended families or larger family-ancestral formations (“fajtas”) in segregated Roma settlements in eastern Slovakia were characterized by generalized reciprocity and mutual solidarity [ 46 , 47 ], today, the applicability of these models needs to be reassessed, especially in cases involving successful usurers in segregated rural settlements [ 44 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Structure in a Roma Settlement: Comparison over Time

Kozubík

Bobakova

Rosinský

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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The objective of the present study was to compare the social structure and internal establishment of a Roma community in two historical periods: in the 18th century and the present. We analysed Samuel Augustini ab Hortis’s work, “Von dem Heutigen Zustände, Sonderbaren Sitten und Lebensart, Wie Auch von Denen Übrigen Eigenschaften und Umständen der Zigeuner in Ungarn” (On the Contemporary Situation, Distinctive Manners and Way of Life, as Well as the Other Characteristics and Circumstances of Gypsies in Greater Hungary), written in 1775–1776. Using content analysis, we subsequently compared his findings with our recent data from analogous qualitative research in a geographically-defined area of north-eastern Slovakia, the same region in which Augustini lived. Data collection was intensely conducted in 2012–2013 and once more in 2017–2019. The qualitative methods included direct observation, semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Four key informants and more than 70 participants collaborated in the study. The greatest difference we observed compared to the 18th century was the absence of a leader of the community, a “vajda”, whose status was taken over by a new social class of “entrepreneurs”. The most vulnerable group of the segregated and separated Roma communities are the “degesa”, the lowest social class. They face a phenomenon consisting of so-called triple marginalization: they live in one of the most underdeveloped regions of the country, they inhabit segregated settlements and they are excluded by their own ethnic group. The socioeconomic status of the richest classes has changed faces, while the socioeconomic status of the lowest has not. We found a misconception among helping professionals (e.g., social workers) regarding the homogeneity of the Roma community. This calls for more attention to the erroneous use of the ethnic-based approach in the helping professions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Structure in a Roma Settlement: Comparison over Time

Kozubík

Bobakova

Rosinský

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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“…15 Scheffel estimated that for his informants living in a Gypsy settlement, the welfare reform of 2004 reduced family incomes by up to 40% (Scheffel, 2005: p. 66). 16 Unfortunately, up until now there have been very few scholarly studies on Gypsy settlements, but see (Budilová and Jakoubek, 2005;Filadelfiová et al, 2006;Jakoubek, 2004;Scheffel, 2005; or Stewart, 1997 on a failed development project in a Gypsy settlement). See also (Lacková, 1999) for a biographical sketch of a woman born in a Gypsy settlement in Slovakia.…”

Section: The State-socialist Experiments In Assimilating "Citizens Of mentioning

confidence: 96%

Continuity or rupture? Roma/Gypsy communities in rural and urban environments under post-socialism

Růžička

2012

Journal of Rural Studies

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“…V této perspektivě se Romové vyznačují hierarchickou diferenciací a kastovní endogamií, která dělí obyvatele romských osad na dvě základní skupiny na čistéžužo a nečistédegeše, jejichž diferenciačním znakem je pojídání čistého a nečistého jídla, který je patrný prakticky ve všech aspektech života Romů. V tomto smyslu se zpravidla mluví o rituální čistotě a nečistotě [Hübschmannová 1993[Hübschmannová , 1999Jakoubek 2004;Budilová, Jakoubek 2005, 2007b. Toto je však pro popisování situace obyvatel romských osad problematické tvrzení, které je spíše ovlivněno indickou interpretační mřížkou, než samotnou realitou romských osad.…”

Section: Fajta a Degešiunclassified

Fajta and the Nature of Kinship among the Inhabitants of Roma Settlements in Eastern Slovakia

Kobes¹

2010

Czech Sociological Review

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European kinship is usually conceptualised as one of the elements that forms the boundary between nature and culture. However, this implicitly assumed biogenetic basis of membership in a particular descent group is not evident in the case of kinship among inhabitants of a Roma settlement. The nature of their kinship can be described as the incorporative process of women and pristašis into descent groups. The fundamental criterion for an expectant partner in marriage is to be 'lačhe' (good, proper, appropriate). The division of people in a Roma settlement into two basic groups (lačhe versus degešis) does not mean that these people form endogamous groups defi ned by procreation. It is rather a matter of moral ideas about what makes people good or bad. Two complementary principles play an important role in these ideas. The fi rst principle relates to the natural base, the second to the process of socialisation. In this respect, fajta does not just refer to a cognatic descent group, but also has another dimension, which cannot simply be defi ned in terms of procreation and which indicates a shift towards a common basis. This can be demonstrated in the example of pristašis, which is a long-term process of incorporation in which fajta, as the domain of nature, shifts to the frame of culture. Despite of the diffi culty of determining whether people were born or socialised into a particular fajta, kinship in a Roma settlement should be studied within the wider organisational complex that on the one hand makes some people related and homogenous and on the other hand excludes other people from this relatedness.

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Ritual impurity and kinship in a Gypsy osada in eastern Slovakia

Cited by 7 publications

References 2 publications

Social Structure in a Roma Settlement: Comparison over Time

Social Structure in a Roma Settlement: Comparison over Time

Continuity or rupture? Roma/Gypsy communities in rural and urban environments under post-socialism

Fajta and the Nature of Kinship among the Inhabitants of Roma Settlements in Eastern Slovakia

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