Joseph Bernard

5 July 2015

The utopia without borders

          Studying utopias this semester has provided insights not only into my own conceptions about what belongs in one, but also into what a utopia could or could not consist of. The texts analyzed have all provided audiences with physical locations for each utopia, all of which are described in a variety of depth. A commonality that exists in these locales is that there is a sense of community and belonging that emerges from being together in one place (The Cove in Ecotopia comes to mind as just one example). This has led me to ask whether or not a utopia can survive without physical borders. Can an ideology or an affiliation be the figurative glue that holds a group of people together on its own or must there be a geographical point at which the aspiring utopians must band together to cement their community as a whole? To answer, I happened to stumble upon a group of people who still exist in our globalized and technological society who can shed light on the issue: the nomadic peoples.

          When I write “the nomadic peoples,” I do quite simply mean that. The nomads of today (unlike the ancients of old) are not categorized by national affiliation or geographical locale. Rather, they are sorted by cultural identity and behavioral characteristics that separate them from any place they may be inhabiting. Indeed, researchers now believe that the modern nomadic peoples should be studied more closely in order to comprehend how they can thrive without the stability of a fixed community. Stefan Leder comments on this in his article “Nomadic and Settled peoples in Steppe Landscapes and Within Statehood”: “Academics have only learned within the past few decades to view nomads not as a separate social phenomenon or as a fascinating particular form of human lifestyle, but, rather, to perceive them as an intertwined, broad societal structure.” (Leder) Of note is the researcher’s choice of words, calling the nomads a “societal structure”. A structure implies stability, something that one can rely on for long periods of time, which is something that Nomadic peoples are not known for in the collective mind of society due to the very nature of their existence. In a piece published for the United Nations entitled “Globalization of Migration: What the Modern World Can Learn from Nomadic Cultures”, Professor Rafis Abazov mentions the instability that nomads encounter: “Nomadic cultures, unlike settled communities . . . have had to deal constantly with various aspects of migration. . . . They have had to deal with economic, culture and social aspects of population movement.” (Abazov) This is a sharp contrast to the anchor that cities provide for most of us today, let alone the utopias analyzed in the texts.

          How then have the nomads survived and how can they be even remotely viewed as potentially utopian in nature? Abazov continues in his article: “Cultural identity . . . plays a significant role in formulating individual and collective attitudes . . . . The nomadic societies have understood this and. . .established a whole set of traditions and rituals . . .”(Abazov) Adding to this a comment by Leder only reinforces the notion that nomadic peoples are establishing successful communities that thrive on cultural identity rather than physical location: “In actual fact nomads have not worked against but always with processes of civilization” (Leder). Although our world has shifted towards a more city-based lifestyle, more than ever are cultural identities being promoted as a unifying factor amongst groups of people rather than merely sharing the same zipcode. In that sense, the nomads are working in conjunction with the undulations of modern civilization, but have purged themselves of any physical ties. Just as the Ecotopians rallied around their sustainability mantras and Prometheus brazenly proclaims his culture of ego, the nomads have established their identity as a way to unify themselves. They are, in a sense, creating a cultural utopia without borders, where one can focus on expressing and preserving culture rather than blend in with modern society.

          Discussing how cultural identity unifies a people is a rather idealistic way of dealing with the nomadic peoples of today, seeing as the abstract concepts discussed previously need to somehow translate concretely into an increasingly complex world. In order to understand how the unifying effect of cultural identity may or may not work in the face of pragmatic reality, one can turn to the plight of the Romani or the Roma people.

          The Roma are colloquially known to us today as “gypsies” and are dispersed all across the globe. According to research reported by Stephanie Pappas through NBC news: “the Romanic migrated from northwest India 1,500 years ago…they arrived in Europe [and] spread across the continent from the Balkan region.” (Pappas) This dispersal of Roma has made them a scattered and nomadic people, moving from place to place in order to escape persecution and disaster. David Simpson has much to say about the Roma in his article “The Roma: A thousand years of discrimination continues in Europe”, in which he comments on how the Roma people were discriminated against mainly because of their cultural “language and dress”,which led to “forced slavery...and persecution during World War II” among other atrocious trials(Simpson). Skin color was also a driving force behind persecution along with stereotyping, which Alina Bradford points out in her article: “Gypsy Culture: Customs, Traditions and Beliefs”: “The Romani people faced discrimination because of their dark skin…They have been portrayed as cunning, mysterious outsiders who tell fortunes and steal before moving on…”(Bradford)

          Although the Romani are a persecuted people largely due to their small size and nomadic lifestyle, their culture doesn’t seem to warrant such behavior. In an article penned by writer Marc Lallanilla for LiveScience, he presents this snippet of Roma culture: “The Romani are often celebrated for their musical heritage, which has influenced jazz, bolero and flamenco music…most Romani have adopted the religions of their host countries. The majority of Roma…practice a form of Islam or Christianity.” (Lallanilla) Combined with their varied spirituality are rules known as “Rromano” that essentially dictate how they are to behave(such values include cleanliness, purity, respect, honor and justice)(Bradford).  Bradford’s referenced article spells out the Romani culture point by point, illustrating how families traveled in caravans and put extensive value on the extended family with several generations living together for long periods of time(Bradford). Marriage happens at a young age and the newly married couples often are ingratiated back into the extended family, most of whom work as tradesmen(or women!), crafting metal, wood and other materials as well as trading with other villages or towns. There are many who work as entertainers, traversing the globe and utilizing their musical knowledge to bring income in(Bradford)

A significant part of the Romanic culture is being nomadic for its own sake. Persecution led to the Roma choosing a nomadic lifestyle, Simpson making an intriguing remark about this: “Roma often were prohibited from buying land or entering the more stable occupations. At some point, the nomadic lifestyle became the norm for them…they are simply a group choosing a lifestyle.” (Simpson) As presented earlier, the Romani are a people that are closely knit together in small communities, yet they are rather varied in their spirituality, occupations and even how they interpret their own laws (some Romani communities are known for human trafficking violations). What binds the Romani people together as a culture is that they are nomadic. Nomad does not serve as a label for a separate group of people; rather, the life of a nomad is imbibed into their very culture as a way of living.

The question now shifts to whether or not the Romani people are living an actual utopia. Moving from place to place with no fixed anchor point has forced the Romani into developing their own standards of living, building tightly woven familial communities that are free to practice their own modes of spirituality all the while attempting to keep up with the laws dictated by the Romano. They have made their own world that needs no endorsement from any other state or nation. One can argue that this opens the door to persecution and discrimination(which does occur) and this nomadic culture that the Romani perpetuate may not be sustainable, but the idea of featuring family, spirituality and ethic at the heart of their culture sounds rather utopian, especially when viewing utopia through the lens of a Westerner. Maybe a utopia does not need borders, but instead people who are willing to commit to each other and a specific way of life that can benefit themselves and others, shoving off the physical restraints of location and finding their home through culture, not place.

Works Cited

Abazov, Rafis. "Globalization of Migration: What the Modern World Can Learn from Nomadic Cultures | UN Chronicle." UN Chronicle. The United Nations, Sept. 2013. Web. 01 July 2015.

Bradford, Alina. "Gypsy Culture: Customs, Traditions & Beliefs." LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 26 Jan. 2015. Web. 05 July 2015.

Lallanilla, Marc. "5 Intriguing Facts About the Roma." LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 23 Oct. 2013. Web. 05 July 2015.

Leder, Stefan. "Nomadic and Settled Peoples in Steppe Landscapes and within Statehood."Difference+Integration. Universities of Leipzig and Halle-Wittenburg, n.d. Web. 01 July 2015.

Pappas, Stephanie. "Origin of the Romani People Pinned down — It's India." Science at NBCNEWS.COM. NBC, 06 Dec. 2012. Web. 05 July 2015.

Simpson, David. "The Roma: A Thousand Years of Discrimination Continues." CNN. Cable News Network, 25 Oct. 2013. Web. 05 July 2015.