The Traveller-Gypsies

Description

In this book Judith Okely challenges popular accounts of Gypsies which suggest that they were once isolated communities, enjoying an autonomous culture and economy now largely eroded by the processes of industrialisation and western capitalism. Gypsies have never been independent of a larger society and economy; they are an ethnic group which has refused to be proletarianised, preferring self-employment to wage-labour and providing goods and services which often require geographical mobility. Moreover, attempts by non-Gypsies to disperse, destroy or assimilate Gypsies have always failed. Drawing on her own extensive fieldwork, both in England and on the contemporary documents, Dr Okely provides a much-needed attempt to interpret the viewpoint of this mainly non-literate group. The Traveller-Gypsies is the first monograph to be published on Gypsies in Britain using the perspective of social anthropology. It examines the historical origins of the Gypsies, their economy, travelling patterns, self-ascription, kinship and political groupings, and their marriage choices, upbringing and gender divisions.