The Social Organization of a ‘Stone Fight’

Abstract

This article examines the sequential organization and social meaning of a ‘stone fight’ between a group of Spanish Gitano children and a group of non-Gitano neighbour children. The episode crystallizes an ongoing dispute between neighbours in the community regarding access and use of public spaces and plazas. The authors argue that this occasion and its surrounding history allows Gitano children to reinterpret and redefine the nature of interethnic relations and contact. Also, it may provide resources for these children to cope with structurally based forms of exclusion and ethnic conflict in other social arenas (such as school or work).

Children practising politics through spatial narratives

“…Other studies that do not have children's politics as their analytical focus are also referred to in the paper (e.g. Rasmusson 1998;Karsten 1998;Poveda and Marcos 2005;van der Burght 2006van der Burght , 2008Reay 2007;Gustafsson 2006Gustafsson , 2011). An interesting question in relation to this is whether these studies can contribute to the field of children's politics.…”

“…Previous studies show that adults and children living in stigmatised neighbourhoods and persons defined as belonging to the category of 'immigrants' are confronted with ambivalence and equivocation in relation to where they live and who they are expected to be. These studies also show that they are well aware of the positions offered, and that this is something they have to deal with (Elias and Scotson 1965;Karsten 1998;Poveda and Marcos 2005;Gustafsson 2006Gustafsson , 2011van der Burght 2006van der Burght , 2008Reay 2007;Waquant 2007;Elwood and Mitchell 2012;Gilliam 2013). In the map study it was evident that the reputation of the singled-out neighbourhood and the school there was not unknown to the children who attend the school.…”

“…By doing that, the participating children connect to a local, national and global narrative about places and social categories, a narrative containing hierarchies that they use for differentiation and positioning. When politics is defined in this way, children in studies that do not have children's politics as a focal point can also be defined as practising politics (Rasmusson 1998;Karsten 1998;Poveda and Marcos 2005;van der Burght 2006van der Burght , 2008Reay 2007;Gustafsson 2006Gustafsson , 2011. Van der Burght (2006), for example, shows in her study about children's perspectives on different places in the urban environment, that participating children had lively discussions about one specific neighbourhood, its inhabitants and the pupils in the school there.…”

Infância Calin: Socialização Étnica e Identidade Social entre Crianças Ciganas

“…A vivência dos ciganos em grupos e comunidades tradicionais desde o nascimento pode reproduzir nas crianças mecanismos de defesa e de afetos, fun-damentados e adaptados nas condições e necessidades da vida naquele grupo (Berthier, 1979;Montenegro, 2013;Poveda, & Marcos, 2005). As brincadeiras, que comumente já fazem parte do universo infantil, também são importantes no processo de socialização da criança cigana (Azevedo, & Cardoso, 2012), assim como o conjunto de regras que são a elas transmitidas a fim de garantir a perpetuação das normas e das tradições do grupo (Bonomo et al, 2018;Bonomo, Souza, Brasil, Livramento, & Canal, 2010;Pizzinato, 2009).…”