Italian Kalderaša between Northern Italy and the Swiss Canton of Ticino. Categorisations, Policies, Everyday Practices

Author(s) : Nadia Bizzini

Source : https://doi.org/10.3197/np.2018.220107

Abstract:

The article presents the ethnographic case of a group of Kalderaša Roma who currently, depending on the time of year, live either side of the border between Italy and Switzerland. Historically, these families have been subject to various categorisations and consequently to different policies that have made them into ‘foreign nomads’ to be sedentarised in the Swiss territory and into ‘ex-nomads’ or ‘sedentary nomads’ without the right to practice nomadism in Italy. The article shows how this group of Kalderaša Roma have dealt with the different historical categorisation and policy configurations in both Switzerland and Italy, managing to maintain their own identity and practices as ‘peripatetic service nomadic communities’.