Dwelling in Mobile Times by Sybille Frank Lars Meier

Author:Sybille Frank, Lars Meier [Sybille Frank, Lars Meier]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781315196268
Google: MMlMswEACAAJ
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2018-01-15T04:54:28+00:00

Note

1. The first evidence of Roma presence in Sweden is found in year 1512 when a group of ‘tatare’ arrived in Stockholm (Almquist & Hildebrand 1931, p. 272). A regulation of 1637 says that all ‘tartars’ should be driven out of the country, and yet another law (the Hang law) stated that all Roma men should be to be hung without trial. During the same century all Roma present in Sweden were relegated eastwards (today Finland) (SOU 2010:55, pp. 137–173).

2. But cf. the illegal and covert police register, uncovered in September 2013 by a Swedish newspaper (Orrenius 2013).

3. Cf. Liégeois (2012) on the terminology deployed by the Council of Europe.

4. Within the Swedish minority politics there are several different groups and among them those who often refer to themselves as Resande, i.e. Travellers. Among the travellers there are some that do regard themselves as part of the Roma minority and others who do not (SOU, 2010:55 p.81–82:113). For more details on terminology and difficulties, see Council of Europe (2011), Hancock (2002), Lucassen et al. (1998), Svensson (1993, p. 87).

5. It should be noted that before the turn of the last century, occasionally, the historical term ‘zigenare’ also comprised the historical term ‘tattare’ (Montesino Parra 2002). In our study this complication has been handled.

6. An exception is found among our interviewees (Personal communication, 19 Dec 2013).

7. In this study it has not been feasible to find and deploy a differentiated endonym terminology of the kind suggested by Hancock.

8. It is often stressed that that many people did not define themselves as Roma only for the sake of escaping discrimination or persecution.

9. With exception for the Sámi and Sverigefinnar, these small numbers are similar to the other Swedish national minorities. For statistics on Swedish minority groups, see SOU 1997:193. For historical numbers, see Svanberg & Tydén (2005).

10. The growing numbers have been explained as related to a growing awareness among the Roma of their particular situation, an extended identification with related groups, an official recognition of the numbers offered by Roma organizations. Although the numbers of Roma officially identified have been at least tripled over the last ten years, the numbers are largely unsettled since many countries, among them Sweden, do not register ethnicity, cultural- or language-based groups while other countries do (or do rely on numbers offered by Romany representatives).

11. See, for example, the historical works of Le Roy Ladurie (1981, 1997) that explore both local ambivalences around mobility (the village of Montaillou) and mobility as a strategy (The Platter’s family). For a recent account of the centrality of understanding the past through the lens of mobility also in the context of the study of pre-historical times, see Leary (2014).

12. The political debate in Gothenburg in the 1950s regarding Roma housing is referred in Selling (2013, p. 138).

13.

14. Personal communication with a Swedish Roma woman, 19 December 2013.

15. Mayall’s study compares the dwelling practices of English ‘Gypsy-travellers’ with other itinerant groups, constantly stating that it is difficult to be completely sure

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