IDENTITY MARKERS AND SOCIAL RITUALS IN THE ROMA ETHNICITY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29302/Pangeea25.22Keywords:
identity markers, social rituals, social inclusion, Roma ethnicityAbstract
The paper aims to build an identity profile of the Roma ethnicity by identifying a series of defining identity markers in this regard and the way in which they are found in a series of social rituals. Our desire was to highlight the survival over time of deep identity elements that refer to the origins and history of this ethnic group. In this regard, we pay attention to the following identity markers: 1. territoriality; 2. solidarity in the family and community; 3. Craftsmanship and talent; 4. religion and rituals; 5. orality, honor and speech. Starting from the existing literature, we have identified in addition to these identity data, a series of social rituals that are associated with them. The paper highlights the fact that these identity marks are camouflaged under different faces and that they can acquire different meanings and connotations over time and thus contribute to shaping an identity profile from the perspective of cultural patterns.
References
1. DiSanto, P. F. (2012). The decade of roma inclusion? An Analysis of discriminatory practices and failed program. Symposium. The Adelphi Honors College Journal of Ideas, 12, 35-49. https://honors.adelphi.edu/wp-content/blogs.dir/741/files/2018/06/Honors-College-Symposium- Volume-XII.pdf
2. Zamfir, E. (2013). Roma people within the global process of change. Journal of Research and Social Intervention, 40, 149-165.
3. Szabó, H. (2023). Case study on obstacles to the social integration process of young people of Roma origin. Ethnographica et Folkloristica Carpathica, 25, 107-127. https://dea.lib.unideb.hu/ items/8b3984c8-ddc8-4481-abf6-edcb3934ae98
4. Spring, J. (1994). Deculturalization and the Struggle for Equality: A Brief History of the Education of Dominated Cultures in the United States. Columbus, Ohio: McGraw-Hill College.
5. Rudmin, F. W. (2003). Critical history of the acculturation psychology of assimilation, separation, integration, and marginalization. Review of General Psychology, 7(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.1037/10892680.7.1.3
6. Csepeli, G., & Simon, D. (2004). Construction of Roma identity in Eastern and Central Europe: perception and self identification. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 30(1), 129–150. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183032000170204
7. Watzlawik, M. (2012). Cultural identity markers and identity as a whole: Some alternative solutions. Culture and Psychology, 18(2), 253-260. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X11434843
8. Arakelova, V. (2010). Ethno-religious communities: To the problem of identity markers. Iran and the Caucasus, 14(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1163/157338410X12743419189180
9. Strom, R. D., & Strom, P. S. (2014). Assessment of intergenerational communication and Identity markers and social rituals in the roma ethnicity 93 relationships. Educational Gerontology, 41(1), 41–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/03601277. 2014.912454
10. Nacu, A. (2011). The politics of Roma migration: Framing identity struggles among Romanian and Bulgarian Roma in the Paris region. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 37(1), 135–150. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2010.515134
11. Webb, E. (2019). A Nation of Rome? Constructing Romani identity in the context of extreme displacement. Nations and Nationalism, 25(4), 1190–1211. https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12504
12. Stewart, M. (1997). The Time of the Gypsies. Boulder: Westview Press.
13. Kóczé, A. (2018). Race, migration and neoliberalism: distorted notions of Romani migration in European public discourses. Social Identities, 24(4), 459–473. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2017.1335827
14. Troc, G. (2012). Transnational migration and roma self-identity: Two case studies. Babes-Bolyai University Studies – Sociology, 57(2), 77-100.
15. Afanasieva, L., Bukrieieva, I., Glyns'ka, L., Hlebova, N., & Semikin, M. (2020). Family roles of Roma and ways to overcome its socio-cultural isolation. Journal of History Culture and Art Research, 9(3), 288-296. http://dx.doi.org/10.7596/taksad.v9i3.2716
16. Osmanaj, E., & Koçollari Furxhiu, N. (2015). Roma diversity, dynamics of family and community as the basic elements of social support in the educational life of Roma children in Albania. Romanian Economic Business Review, Romanian-American University, 10(1), 89-98. https://rebe.rau.ro/REBE_SP15.pdf
17. Pantea, M. C. (2013). Social ties at work: Roma migrants and the community dynamics. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 36(11), 1726–1744. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2012.664282
18. Uzunoz Altan, M., & Altinkoz, O. (2024). Ethnic identity and labour market. A case of the Roma people from Turkey. In M. Uzunöz Altan, M. I. Yenilmez, O. Altınkoz & S. Bağçe (Eds.), Identity economics. Multidisciplinary insights into decision-making behavior. London: Routledge (pp. 19).
19. Nistor, D. A. (2020). Crafting as a lifestyle. The Roma communities' occupations during the communist period in Transylvania. The Yearbook of the George Bariţiu Institute of History. Historical Series. Supplement, LIX(2), 415-422.
20. Beissinger, M. H. (2001). Occupation and ethnicity: Constructing identity among professional Romani (Gypsy) musicians in Romania. Slavic Review, 60(1), 24-49. https://doi.org/10.2307/2697642
21. Gyetvai, G., & Rajki, Z. (2016). Features of Roma religiosity: Is it only mimicry? Religion and Society in Central and Eastern Europe, 9(1), 53-69. https://rascee.net/index.php/rascee/article/view/81
22. Zachos, D. (2011). Sedentary Roma (Gypsies): The case of Serres (Greece). Roman Studies, 21, 23–56. https://doi.org/10.3828/rs.2011.2
23. Phillips, D. J. (2001). Peoples on the move: Introducing the nomads of the world. Pasadena, California: William Carey Publishing.
24. Roht-Yilmaz, E. L. (2019). Fortune telling is a curse on your children: Conversion, fortune telling, and beliefs in magic among Roma women in Estonia. Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics, 13(1), 107-129. https://doi.org/10.2478/jef-2019-0006
25. Weyrauch, W. O. (1997). Oral legal traditions of Gypsies and some American equivalents. The American Journal of Comparative Law, 45(2), 407–442. https://doi.org/10.2307/840856
26. Her anu, M., Butnaru, S., Păduraru, A. E., & Soponaru, C. (2025). Beyond stereotypes: Qualitative research on Roma community values in North-East Romania. Societies, 15(12), 338. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc15120338
27. Watson-Jones, R. E., & Legare, C. H. (2016). The social functions of group rituals. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 25(1), 42–46. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721415618486
28. Giovagnoli, R. (2018). From habits to rituals: Rituals as social habits. Open Information Science, 2, 181-188. https://doi.org/10.1515/OPIS-2018-0014
29. Kumar, P. R. K. (2013). The role of social rituals in well-being. In A. Morandi & A. Nambi (Eds.), An integrated view of health and well-being. Cross-cultural advancements in positive psychology. Dordrecht: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6689-1_6.
