After Barth: The Mexican Calós’s lived identity

Abstract

The reasons for adopting a problem in terms of the survival of a Roma anthropological and historical system are not factual, but theoretical. This text analyses some dimensions of this system in relation to cultural identity, an idea that is close but not identical to the concept of ethnic identity of Fredrik F. Barth. The ethnography with the Gitanos of Mexico City dialogues with previous ethnographies and inquiries about the lived identity. The memory of the life of the Calós are constructed subjectively and through sociability are objectified in a cultural identity, opposed to the legal-political identification. The discourse on modernity, the economic activities, the social rhythms and practices of the place, as well as the transnational and diasporic dimension are the object of reflection.