Gypsies in the city

“Gypsies are an intrinsically fascinating ethnic group, existing in the midst of a culture hostile to them and at the same time depending upon that same culture for their survival. Exiles in a metropolis, the Nomad Rom Gypsies manage to preserve their own way of life most efficiently. The successful preservation of Rom culture in the face of hostility and a rapidly changing world is the main theme of this book. This success is partially attributable to the separate spheres of dominance for women and men. Each sex has its own duties and privileges, and a cultural recognition of the need for the competence of both sexes leads to an insistence upon marriage as an essential feature of their society. The author has worked with Gypsies for almost three decades; she has now put the results of her years of study into this book. Heretofore, little has been written on the Gypsies of the United States, and almost nothing from the viewpoint of Anthropology. Gypsies in the City gives the reader a deeper appreciation of this relatively unknown culture. The author describes in detail a real world inhabited by human beings in the process of living - their economics, sociopolitical organization, religion, philosophy, childhood, marriage, maturity, and finally, death. She pays particular attention to the organizing principles that sustain Gypsy society—especially that of the kris (the Gypsy concept of justice), which pervades a Gypsy’s life and thought, supplying a rationale for existence, a blueprint for adaptation, and a source of pride and comfort. The author also explains the way bands and tribes operate, particularly in New York City. Decisions for survival are practical ones, reached on a day-to-day basis and based on Gypsy tradition. The author maintains that decisions based upon age-old principles are not necessarily antagonistic to the viability of this culture within a contemporary context - a finding vital to all who are interested in cultural pluralism and the coexistence of ethnic groups. The theoretical framework upon which this book is based promises to give higher predictive power on the social research of small groups living in a hostile environment.” BOOK JACKET