Facets of a Harmony

Jan Ort is a doctoral student in the Department of Central European studies at Charles University. Phil Jones is a translator of Czech into English.

• Acknowledgements 6Introduction: A village of Harmonious Coexistence 9Place 10Methodology 13Romani Studies and Anthropology among Roma in Slovakia 13Positionality 15Methodology 18Writing of the Roma 20Being Local Roma 25Silencing Gypsyness 25Locals but Not Indigenous 28Facets of a Harmony 35Chapter One: “Our Roma” and “our Gadže” 37The Roma in Slovakia 38Together but Divided 41Asymmetrical Relations 43A Shared Understanding of Gypsyness 46The Language of Gypsyness 47Silencing Gypsyness 49“Our Roma” 51“Our Gadže” 52Still Just a Gypsy 54Experience of the Subordinate Position 55Virtuous Roma and Amoral Gadže 56Balancing the Gadžo Way of Life 58The narrative of Social Mobility 60The Narrative of Resistance 61Conclusion 63Chapter Two: Housing and the Politics of Space 66The Territorialisation of the Roma in Slovakia 68The Asymmetry of Post-War Construction 70Politics of the Gypsy Tettlement 71Actors of Territorialisation 74Maintaining the Settlement’s Size 78Council Flats for the Roma 80Continuity of Territorial Stigmatisation 81Covert Discrimination 83Territorialisation: the Gadže’s Perspective 85Placing Gypsyness 86“Jolanian Roma”: Local, but Stuck in a Place 88Amongst the Gadže: Confirming Gypsyness 90Creating a Safe Space 92The Settlement: Discontinuity of Material Conditions 93Beyond Territorial Stigmatisation 95Conclusion 97Chapter Three: Language of the “Rusyn Roma” 101The Romani Language in Slovakia 102Language Acquisition in Jolany 106Slovak 108Rusyn 110Rusyn in the Local Authorities 111“So the Gadže Don’t Say...” 112The Mayoress and Kalenák 113New Domains of Romani? 115Language as a Tool of Othering 117Language and Inter-Roma Relations 119Subverting Linguistic Dominance 120Romani: The Roma’s Shared Cultural Code 122Romani amongst the Gadže 124“Original” Romani 125Romani as a Cryptic Code 127Conclusion 129Chapter Four: Gypsy Economy in Jolany 133The Roma and Work in Slovakia 134Historical Overview of Economic Strategies in Jolany 136“Gypsy Work” 138Non-Romani Actors of the Gypsy Economy 140“Gypsy Work” and Inter-Roma Relations 142Being a Trustworthy Worker 144Shifting the Logic of Adaptation 145Gypsy Economy in Jolany 147Visibility of the Gypsy Economy 149Migration 151Roma as “(Semi)nomadic Gypsies”? 152Contesting Gypsyness through Migration 154Escaping Everyday Racism 156Jolany as a Safe Space 157Conclusion 159Conclusion: The Roma as Locals 163Harmony as Narrative and Social Practice 165“So that the Gadže don’t Say...” 167Place 170Gender 173Roma and Kinship 175Epilogue: Is old Jolany Slowly Disappearing? 178Bibliography 182

“A detailed ethnographic study of ethnic coexistence on the border of eastern Slovakia, in an area undergoing demographic shifts. It highlights the dynamics and complexity of Roma-non-Roma relations and how structural racism constantly shifts and is concretely undermined, leading to a state of permanent ambiguity.”