Dallas, getting started

This is where it all begins... Pata Rat (Dallas) is home to a large Roma community who sustain their livelihood by using and selling recyclable materials they scavenge from the city landfill in Cluj Napoca, Romania. Community members use salvageable materials from the garbage dump to build and furnish their homes. They also sell collected glass, metal, and plastic to a local recycling company to earn a small income for food and other necessities. This method of livelihood contributes, albeit unitentionally, to global environmentalism as well as to active participation in the capitalist economy. Since the end of communism in Romania, aggravation of social inequalities has increased and and participation in the economy is more challenging. As Romania prepares for accession to the European Union, there is uncertainty about how this community, and others like it, will continue to develop strategies to adapt to increased trade and marketization.

I have some pictures here of the community as well as of piles of glass, washed and sorted, ready for recycling. I have been so fortunate to fall into the graces of a church group who has done work with the Pata community for over ten years. They have generously given me access through their activities there. In one of the pics you can see a new home, built by the organization as a gift to a family in the community. This summer they plan to build four more like it. I have made friends here and hope to extend my dissertation research into a lasting relationship with this community and others like it.


This project is merely a beginning. I digress... I haven't mentioned why I am here. Of course now my project here is twofold now... What I haven't discussed is that I am here to acquire data about how access and quality of healthcare has changed for Roma communities throughout Romania's transition period from communism to capitalism. I.e, my primary research questions: 1) What are the effects of citizenship laws, educational disparities, cultural barriers, and resurgent nationalism on Roma access to healthcare in Cluj Napoca? 2) How does the persistence of old, and emergence of new, economic inequalities among the Roma affect access to healthcare? 3) Have transformations in the healthcare system aggrivated class and ethnic divisions between the Roma and other ethnic groups in Romania? Answering these questions and taking part in strategizing change are my primary objectives here, however, since I have been at Pata I have noticed other important areas of anthropological query... So, on the side, I am pursuing this other interest in the participation in the informal economy through recycling and its implications. I can't write two dissertations (fortunately!) but I will continue to pursue this other interest in the course of my research and Romania's critical transition period to the European Union.

Please visit the links on the sidebar for more information about activism in Roma rights or the pursuit of equality and health for all people in this world.