Sociological research of Roma intangible heritage – “Representations and lifestyle in Roma communities”
„Gypsies are not, a priori, by birth, in any way inferior to other ethnic groups. The “handicap”, the difference is created along the way, due to the lack of education, training, modeling – which, in turn, have deep motivations” – George Pruteanu
The stereotypes measured by opinion polls and sociological studies show us that two-thirds of Romanians believe that Roma commit the most crimes, and one-third believes that Roma will represent a danger to the country and to society. Under the label that most Romanians apply to them, that of thieves, criminals, robbers and generally violent, racism is felt by the Roma population as a historical, ancestral “cross” that they must bear.
In addition to racism, the Roma face exclusion from the labor market, severe impoverishment, emigration, access to seasonal jobs, discrimination and ethnic segregation.
(A. MACEDONSKI)
The gypsies go non-stop-
I don’t even know when they started,
But they go on and on,
Pushed by an eternal call.
With yellow eyes lost in buttermilk,-
Since they know each other, they mentioned-
The gypsies go without ceasing:
I don’t even know when they started.
Always gypsies, with little, with big,
They kept giving birth and they kept dying –
And still towards the unfulfilled dream,
Kidnapped by the same insanity,
The gypsies go non-stop.
By choosing this theme, we were therefore motivated to make known to the majority population a part of the Roma culture, from the way the Roma understand and live life, in an attempt to diminish the stereotypes deeply rooted in the collective mentality that they face, stereotypes transmitted from generation to generation, not by the Romanians who live together with the Roma, but by those who may not have ever interacted directly with them
The research was carried out in 10 communities in the steppe area of Romania with a significant Roma population (Andrășești, Căzănești, Traian, Slobozia from Ialomița county, Cernica from Ilfov county, Dragalina from Călărași county, Berteștii de Jos and Viziru from Brăila county, Padina and Rusețu from Buzău county), with 200 Roma people participating; the final product published in a brochure has a complementary function to the film also made within the project.
As part of the field research activity, relevant elements of identity culture related to the representations and lifestyle of the Roma communities were collected and inventoried, as defining elements of the Roma intangible cultural heritage, using tools and methodologies specific to sociological research to guarantee accuracy collected information.
All the information gathered from the field regarding the representations and lifestyle of the Roma were capitalized by the realization and printing of the sociological research entitled “Representations and lifestyle in the Roma communities in the steppe area of Romania”, which can be accessed here.
The conclusions of the sociological research
It is not at all easy to give an answer to the question “How much tradition and how much modernity in Roma communities?”. Being a diverse and non-homogenous ethnic group, the Roma are somehow caught in the middle between a tradition that is disappearing day by day and the elements of modernity that have gradually found their place in everyday life.
In the sociological research we undertook as part of the project “Steppe Roma – a story about the past and roads to modernity” we x-rayed ten Roma communities from the steppe area from the point of view of the relevant elements of identity culture, related to the representations and lifestyle as defining elements of Roma intangible cultural heritage, in an attempt to see how we use elements of modernity to preserve tradition.
We thus identified two large types of Roma communities: traditional communities and Romanized communities, the latter being more predominant than the former.


In the two traditional communities (Andrășești and Căzănești from Ialomița county) some of the ancient traditions, passed down from generation to generation, have been preserved even today; here we still find the specific attire, especially in women, who have not given up their own style: long pleated skirts and as brightly colored as possible, hair braided in ponytails and of course the headscarf that all married women use. Here all the Roma speak the Romanian language, even if they all speak the Romanian language, of course. Also, another specific element of Roma culture – gold can still be found in all Roma families, no matter how poor they are.


In the other eight communities that we researched (Slobozia and Traian from Ialomița County, Dragalina from Călărași County, Padina and Rușețu from Buzău County, Berteștii de Jos and Viziru from Brăila County and Cernica from Ilfov County) most of the Roma -they have adapted to modern life, being assimilated by the majority: they even openly admit that they no longer keep the traditions, calling themselves “Romanized Gypsies” or “defended Gypsies”. Most of them have personal cars, mobile phones and social media accounts, the first sign of adaptation to modernity.