Views of identity politics of the ROMA in Greece.

Abstract

Gypsies as a pan-European population are a matter of concern in many countries. As a result, in Greece, they constitute a ‘close’ social group that during the years maintained its structure and identity. What unified the Gypsies is their language, their customs and traditions. Despite the fact that the Greek society tried to incorporate them with different strategies they still remain culturally different, however marginalized. Their identity has a dual construction, the one is the self-image of the Gypsies and the other is the Gypsy-image of the majority population. The Gypsies in order to maintain their identity have strong family bonds, follow their customs and traditions, do not hesitate to travel and relocate in case of need and they are occupationally independent.