Advertisement

The Urban Review

, Volume 49, Issue 3, pp 478–497 | Cite as

Alice: Overcoming the Border Motto: “I Am No Longer Afraid of the World”

  • Markéta Levínská
  • David Doubek
Article
First Online:

Abstract

In our paper, we present the story of emancipation of a Roma woman, who works as a social outreach worker. Our method is based on ethnographic approach and our paper focuses on the study the emic perspective of participants in our research. The aim of the paper is to show the tension arising between the actions and expectations of Alice and the actions and expectations of those who are the important others in relation to her. There are two planes present in the personal story of Alice’s emancipation: the plane of Alice’s agency, which is represented by actions, decisions, self-determined will, versus the plane of cultural models, schemata, roles, status positions, images that are in some way offered to Alice or even forced upon her or with which she herself identifies. We will follow the contradictory process of establishment of personal identity of a woman who takes endeavours in several social fields constantly trying to maintain the permeability of these fields and their meanings, which is not an entirely trivial matter.

Keywords

Roma Emancipation Excluded localities Self-identity 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Bachtin, M. M. (2007). François Rabelais a lidová kultura středověku a renesance [François Rabelais and folk culture of Middle Age and Renaissance]. Praha, CR: Argo.Google Scholar
  2. Bateson, G. (1979). Mind and Nature. A Necessary Unity. New York: E. P. Dutton.Google Scholar
  3. Baumeister, R. F. (1998). The self. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fische, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (4th ed. pp. 680–740). New York: McGrew-Hill.Google Scholar
  4. Bittnerová, D. (2013). Když stereotyp ustanovuje řád. [When stereotype constitutes the order]. In D. Bittnerová (Ed.), Etnické komunity: Romové [Ethnic communities: Roma] (pp. 7–17). Praha, CR: FHS UK.Google Scholar
  5. Bittnerová, D., Doubek, D., & Levínská, M. (2011). Funkce kulturních modelů ve vzdělávání [Function of Cultural Models in Education]. Praha, CR: FHS UK.Google Scholar
  6. Bourdieu, P. (1999). Teorie jednání [The Logic of Practice]. Praha, CR: Karolinum.Google Scholar
  7. Bruner, J. (1991). Narrative construction of reality. Critical Inquiry, 18(1), 1–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Doubek, D., & Levínská, M. (2015). Us and them—what categories reveal about Roma and non-Roma in the Czech Republic. In P. Smeyers, D. Bridges, N. C. Burbules, & M. Griffiths (Eds.), Intercultural handbook of interpretation in educational research (pp. 599–623). Dordrecht: Springer.Google Scholar
  9. Doubek, D., Levínská, M., & Bittnerová, D. (2015a). Pomoc a pořádek. Kulturní modely v pomáhajících profesích [Help and Order. Cultural models in Helping Proffesions]. Praha, CR: FHS UK.Google Scholar
  10. Doubek, D., Levínská, M., & Bittnerová, D. (2015b). Roma as the others. Intercultural Education, 26(2), 131–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Dvořáková, T. (2013). Když není čas se nadechnout: Přehlížení těch nejbližších jako metodologický problem etnografie. [When There Is No Time to Breathe: Disregard the Closest as Methodological Problem in Ethnography]. In T. Stöckelová, & Y.A. Ghosh (Eds.), Etnografie: improvizace v teorii a terénní praxi [Ethnography: Improvisation in the Theory and Field Practice] (pp. 175–203). Praha, CR: Sociologické nakladatelství (SLON).Google Scholar
  12. GAC. (2006). Analýza sociálně vyloučených romských lokalit a absorpční kapacity subjektů působících v této oblasti [Analysis of social excluded localities and the absorption capacity of subjects operating in this area]. Praha: MPSV. Retrieved 23 Sept 2015. http://www.mpsv.cz/files/clanky/3043/Analyza_romskych_lokalit.pdf
  13. Gobbo, F. (2004). Cultural intersections: the life history of a cultural mediator. European Educational Research Journal, 3(3), 626–641.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. University of Edinburgh Social Sciences Research Centre, UK: Anchor Books edition.Google Scholar
  15. Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on the management of spoiled identity. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.Google Scholar
  16. Hammersley, M., & Atkinson, P. (1983). Ethnography: Principles in practice. London, New York: Tavistock Publication.Google Scholar
  17. Heider, K. G. (1988). The Rashomon effect: When ethnographers disagree. American Anthropologist, 1(90), 73–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Levinson, M. (2017). When participants don’t wish to participate in participatory action research, and when others participate on their behalf: The representation of communities by real and faux participants.Google Scholar
  19. Marcia, J. E. (1993). The Ego Identity Status Approach to Ego Identity. In J. E. Marcia, A. S. Waterman, D. R. Matteson, L. Archer, & J. L. Orlofsky (Eds.), Ego Identity: A handbook for psychosocial research (pp. 3–21). New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Moree, D., Vávrová, T., & Felcmanová, A. (2017). Blue or red? Why do categories attract? Google Scholar
  21. Novotný, L. (2005). Německá menšina a česko-německé vztahy [German minority and Relationships of Czech-German]. In Z. Kokošková, J. Kocian, & S. Kokoška (Eds), Československo na rozhraní dvou epoch nesvobody [Czechoslovakia in the Borderline of Two Epochs of Unfreedom] (pp. 233–238). Praha, CR: Národní Archiv a Ústav pro soudobé dějiny AV ČR.Google Scholar
  22. Piaget, J., & Inhelder, B. (1970). Psychologie dítěte [Psychology of Child]. Praha, CR: Státní pedagogické nakladatelství.Google Scholar
  23. Setti, F. (2015). The implications of ‘naming’ on Roma and Sinti right to education and social inclusion: an ethnography of education among a Sinti Family network. Intercultural Education, 26(2), 114–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Shore, B. (1996). Culture in mind, cognition, culture, and the problem of meaning. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
  25. Strauss, C., & Quinn, N. (2001). A cognitive theory of cultural meaning (3rd ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
  26. Turner, J. C., & Bourhis, R. Y. (1996). Social Identity, Interdependence and the social group: A reply to Rabbie et al. In W. P. Robinson (Ed.), Social groups and identities: Developing the legacy of Henri Tajfel (pp. 25–64). Oxford, England: Butterworth-Heinemann.Google Scholar
  27. Weinerová, R. (2014). Romové a stereotypy. Výzkum stereotypizace Romů v Ústeckém kraji [Roma and Stereotypes. A research of the Stereotypization of Roma in the Region of Ústí nad Labem]. Praha, CR: Karolinum.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Education and Psychology at Faculty of EducationUniversity of Hradec KrálovéHradec KrálovéCzech Republic
  2. 2.Department of Psychology at Faculty of EducationCharles UniversityPrague 1Czech Republic

Personalised recommendations

Cite article

Buy options