The name is absent

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activity be seen to address the perhaps broader tension between, on the one hand, being
trapped and being free to move on to another part of Europe, or being repressed and
being a citizen as they once dreamed they would be. On the surface it would seem that
the individuals operating within this Iiminal sphere could be seen as a Greek example of
what Holston has described as the rise of new kinds of citizens seeking to expand
democratic citizenship (2008). However, there is an important difference: first, the Roma
and others involved in this Iiminal network do not have a clear political message, but
rather identify their political purpose as simply to be recognized, which they achieve
through disruption. This need to become visible, to become an identifiable public, speaks
to a deeper desire for basic human identity and for the ability to create positive social
meaning. It also underscores an important social trend across Athens, and Greece:
certain segments of the population be they Romani, Greek youth, or undocumented
migrant, are all calling for recognition - to be seen and heard.

*

This chapter examined the identity politics the Roma community struggle with on
a daily basis in Greece. Whereas the undocumented migrant population is barred from
conventional citizenship outright, the Roma are barred from conventional citizenship in
other ways; a reality that precipitates a myriad of Romani resistance and, importantly,
integration strategies. It was also shown that this experience of marginalization and
violence can foster the establishment of unexpected partnerships between unconventional
citizens. In the final section of this chapter I detailed the life of one such ‘mixed group’
and reviewed their (symbolic and actual) encounters with the mainstream population. In
the final chapter I will present a case where every group of unconventional citizen

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