Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Vlasenicakuri families continued to live in and around magliana, in car parks,
on riverbanks, in areas little used by italians, sometimes sharing the space with
other Roma groups.
for the Vlasenicakuri and the bijeljincuri, magliana is not merely the dis-
trict that hosts (or used to host) their camp: it is where they have lived out their
lives for years, where their young people have grown up and attended school. in
short, there seems to be a relationship of shared choice and belonging between
these Roma and the magliana district. to give a precise explanation as to why it
should be this district rather than any other would be to hazard a guess without
knowing the facts. it must be said, however, that in the past magliana was a shan-
tytown, scarred by unlawful building, a frontier, in short, between city and coun-
tryside where institutions have always struggled to assert themselves. magliana is
still today a territory full of areas which are not exploited by Romans and which
in part are out of the range of influence and control of formal institutions (this is
demonstrated by the marked amount of unauthorized land use—vegetable gar-
dens, buildings, plots of land—practiced primarily by nongypsies and not yet
eradicated). furthermore, magliana hosts quite a few scrap metal dealers, known
in Rome as
sfasci,
7 thus attracting people who collect scrap iron. for all these rea-
sons, the territory of magliana has a strong Roma presence, mainly bosnians and
Romanians, who live for the most part in illegal settlements (the only authorized
“nomad camp” is the one in Via Candoni, which currently accommodates two
separate communities of bosnians and Romanians).
in my experience, the Roma settlements symbolize, for non-Roma society
and especially for the neighborhoods where they are to be found, an ambiva-
lent reality. on the one hand, they arouse revulsion and discontent; on the other
hand, they exercise a significant force of attraction for a range of different social
actors. in addition to representatives of institutions (social workers, the police,
and volunteer organizations), the camps are regularly visited by slavs selling
products imported from bosnia (foodstuffs, music, clothes) and who prepare
slavic cuisine (such as
ćevapćići,
burék,
or
dolma
)8 and even supply prostheses
and gold teeth. i have seen street sellers (the so-called
bibitari
)9 stationed at the
entrance in order to sell sandwiches, sausages, and drinks. italians and foreigners
go there on business, for example, to buy spare parts for a car from someone who
is a metal dealer or to take on laborers for building sites (paid under the table, of
course). some people go for the purpose of fly tipping, using the camps as rub-
bish dumps—often without the permission of the residents. There are others who
come to enjoy themselves, who feel at ease in the company of certain families or
friends, for religious reasons, or as a lifestyle choice.
The Vlasenicakuri and the bijeljincuri seek to maintain good relations with
the people who live in the immediate neighborhood of the settlements. During
the period of my field research, for example, the local car dealer often scowled at
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