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assure them that our private conversations are truly private. In the event where this
confidentiality was to be breached, I am certain I would loose the intimate research
relationships I have formed with these Romani women.9
Beyond verbal communication, Greek Roma are also very sensitive to non-verbal
communication cues. Interviews often begin outside of houses and sometimes migrate
indoors at the invitation of the homeowner. Learning to negotiate Romani space was
initially a challenge. Anthropologists familiar with the early work on the Romani body,
especially by Sutherland (1977 see also Miller 1975: 43; Okely 1983: 33-34; Stewart
1997: 207-208), will recall studies of Romani pollution∕pure and inside∕outside dialectics
and the resulting complexity of Romani spatial organization. Greek anthropologists
studying the Roma have also noticed the manifestation of these dialectics, especially in
social organization, treatment of material goods, and even in Romani architecture
(Karathanasi 2000).
For example, in the Alpha compound, stolen or discarded building supplies and
large pieces of wood refuse and cardboard are used to create flimsy walls and porous
roofs for houses, but no home is built unless a solid cement slab floor is laid to keep the
perceived ubiquitous polluting dirt out (especially dirt originating from outside of the
compound). Following this pattern, rooms can be added endlessly to homes, but not
without cement floors, especially when these rooms are given doors to the outside.
Moreover, only Romani men and women are permitted to build Romani homes: the help
9 Of course this begs the question whether a researcher approaching a Romani group initially in association
with an NGO can form the same intimate relationships an independent researcher might. Based on my
observations at the Alpha compound I would argue that making this transition would be more difficult as
the Rom would be wary of the transition from client∕provider to ConsultantZresearcher, being uncertain as to
whether the “outsider” had something to gain. Greek Roma are very familiar with the client∕provider
relationship with non-Roma (both at work and in relation to non-Romani service providers), a relationship
that comes with strict rules and boundaries maintained by the Roma for their own protection.