Construcții identitare la rromii din Sângeorgiu de Mureș

Abstract

The article aims to reveal the diversity of the Roma population with respect to specific modes in which Roma construct their collective identities and constitute themselves as a heterogeneous population, which is, most of the times, externally construed as an objectified solid category. The Roma identity is the result of the interactions Roma have with the majority populations and other Roma groups living in the same area and elsewhere. In the light of contemporary theories, with specific reference to Fredrick Barth’s conceptualization of ethnic boundary maintenance and Anthony Cohen’s discussion on symbolic community, the process of identity construction amongst the Roma is unfolded. These theoretical references were also the main premises of the research I have carried out with the Roma in Sangeorgiu de Mures, Transylvania, where some observations of particular modes of identification have been made. The latter are part of the overall analysis, which focuses on the foundational principles of the group interactions and outcomes of the established relations (ABSTRACT FROM THE AUTHOR).