Overcoming the odds: constricted ethnicity in middle-class Romà

Abstract

How are different ethnic groups dealing with upward social mobility and assimilation? This is a large question that social research has tried to address in recent decades. In the United States, this issue has been framed by the theory of segmented assimilation. In Europe, regarding the Romà, the assumption still exists that upward mobility paths are intrinsically associated with a loss of ethnic identity, due to a process of full acculturation to the mainstream. In this article, through an analysis of 48 in-depth interviews with middle-class Romà in Spain, we identify other mobility paths, such as selective acculturation, that exist in addition to full acculturation. In this sense, we observe how symbolic differences exist between those middle-class Romà who live in an ethnic enclave and have a strong network of support and those who do not. In most cases, middle-class Romà tend to live outside the enclave and experience what we have called constricted ethnicity.

Keywords:

• segmented assimilation
• ethnicity
• social mobility
• Romà
• acculturation

Acknowledgements

Some of the materials here presented were part of the field work of the EU Commission research funded project: Workaló. The creation of new occupational patterns for cultural minorities: the Gypsy case. Brussels: European Commission. DG Research. V Framework Programme, contract number HPSE-CT2001–00101 . This research was also funded by the FI-FIAP Fellowships program of Generalitat de Catalunya (FI 2004 ). We want to thank the contributions of all the people of CREA-UB and Roma people who have been directly or indirectly involved in this project. This paper is dedicated in memoriam to Jesús Gómez (Pato), a critical scholar who will always be guiding our scholarly work in order to promote social justice and human emancipation with love and passion

Notes

1. The real names of the interviewees were replaced by pseudonyms to protect their anonymity.