Svinia in Black and White: Slovak Roma and their Neighbours

372 Pages·2005·2.611 MB·English

by  David Z. Scheffel

svinia in black and white
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SVINIA
i n bl a c k & w h i t e
s l o va k r o m a a n d
t h e i r n e i g h b o u r s
d a v i d z . s c h e f f e l
T E A C H I N G C U L T U R E : U T P E T H N O G R A P H I E S
F O R T H E C L A S S R O O M
University of Toronto Press
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Previously published by Broadview Press, 2005 © David Scheffel
l i b r a ry an d a rc h i v e s c ana da c ata lo g u i n g i n p u b l i c at i on
Scheffel, David, 1955–
Svinia in black and white : Slovak Roma and their neighbours / David Z.
Scheffel.
(Broadview ethnographies & case studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-55111-607-5
1. Romanies—Slovakia—Svinia. 2. Svinia (Slovakia)—Ethnic relations.
I. Title. II. Series.
dx222.5.s35 2005 305.891'497043736 c2005-900252-2
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Book design: Zack Taylor
Printed in Canada
c o n t e n t s
List of Tables and Figures 7
Acknowledgements 9
Introduction 11
one A FRAGMENTED COMMUNITY
17
The Setting 20
The People 21
The Numbers 25
Inter-ethnic Relations 27
Education 36
Religion 39
Local Politics 41
two INSIDE THE O S A DA
47
The People and their Environment 47
Making a Living 59
Sex and Procreation 80
The Family and the Community 86
Deviance, Handicaps, and Pathology 101
Music, Dogs, and Celebrations 118
Relations with the Outside World 130
[5 ]
three ROMANI MARGINALITY
IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
139
The Traditional Pattern 139
The First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938)
and World War II 145
The Socialist Era (1948–1989) 151
Post-war Modernization in Svinia 165
The entrenchment of socialism during the 1950s 167
Uneven development during the 1960s 172
Criminalization and segregation in the 1970s 175
The deepening crisis in the 1980s 187
The post-communist era 192
Conclusions: What Went Wrong in Svinia? 211
Bibliography 227
Index 233
l i s t o f ta b l e s
a n d f i g u r e s
Table 1.1
Demographic composition of Svinia 26
Table 1.2
Ethno-demographic trends in Svinia, 1970–2001 27
Table 2.1
Demographic variation between neighbouring Romani
settlements 134
Table 3.1
Social conditions of Hungarian Roma according to region
in 1893 145
Table 3.2
Occupations of Hungarian Roma according to region
in 1893 146
Table 3.3
Occupations of Roma in eastern Slovakia in 1924 147
Table 3.4
Romani population trends, 1947–1967 160
Table 3.5
Socio-economic differentiation of Czechoslovakia’s Roma
in 1967 163
Table 3.6
The demographic divide in eastern Slovakia 164
Table 3.7
Slovakia’s Romani population based on census figures 164
Figure 1.1
The Slovak Republic (Ross Nelson) 18
Figure 1.2
The Municipality of Svinia (Jennifer Casorso & Ross
Nelson) 19
Figure 1.3
The lower settlement before the 1998 flood (KCpRO
archive) 43
Figure 1.4
The lower settlement in 2004, with “temporary” emergency
housing at the foreground 44