153
therapeutics which resolves the tension between the Roma and Iiminal-Romani identity
through a renegotiation of the Gypsy identity which strings the Iiminal-Rom, the main
Rom, and the mainstream Greek together. Whereas the main Romani deploy the Gypsy
trope to facilitate their social integration with the mainstream Greek population, the
Iiminal Romani deploys the Gypsy trope to unify with the main Romani and to enforce
their collective equality with the mainstream Greek population: a deployment of ‘Gypsy’
that repositions the illegal and dangerous activities the Iiminal-Roma engage in as an
alternative to the civic disengagement∕disenfranchisement of the main Romani population.
Therein lies a purpose and a meaning for the life Christos leads, often enjoys, and is
troubled by. Without this reconfiguration of ‘Gypsy’, Christos would simply view
himself as a hoodlum who has strayed from his roots to feed his addictions and to make
money: an image he balks at in its various manifestations (for example, imagining his
sister is dying while he is distracted by his personal needs or by viewing his brothers as
fearful of him).
At the heart of this therapeutics is a drive for recognition, asserting one’s presence
and worth among both the main Romani and even the mainstream Greek. In light of this
significance to the Roma, one is compelled to consider the significance of this Iiminal
sphere to its members with connections to other embattled populations. I have argued
that the state uses access to citizenship as a means of legitimizing its authority,
maintaining nationalist discourses that underlie the nation’s sovereignty, and to create
legal grey areas where it can act (or not act) with impunity to preserve a particular
formal∕informal demographic for political and economic reasons140. It can be argued that
140 The political reasons behind this include the aforementioned power retention and legitimating strategy,
but also in terms of foreign policy. The economic reasons the state maintains this population might be seen