Urbanities,
Vol. 3
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No 1
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May 2013
© 2013
Urbanities
Modernised and Renovated Houses of Converts to Neo-Protestant Churches
Among diverse social changes that have occurred in South-Eastern Europe and particularly
among Roma/Gypsies after 1989, conversion to neo-Protestantism plays a crucial role. These
conversions have been covered by many researches, showing how converts would split from
their previous community and create new ones based upon their new identity (Gog 2009).
One could be tempted to attribute new resources and renovated houses to the flow of
foreign money channelled through the diverse churches these newly converted Roma families
belong to. The reality is more complex. Some financial help may have originated from the
US or from more global/international projects of help and development, but it is impossible
to generalise. During our research in Romania we witnessed several cases of renovations of
older Roma/Gypsy houses through their adherence to neo-Protestant churches. It corresponds
not only to the access to financial resources, but also to the adoption of a new style of life,
based upon classical Protestant (capitalist) values. This could count for a first exit from
informality and poverty, particularly for pastors and leaders of the communities.
Urban housing
Here again it is impossible to draw a single line of housing policies and practices for and by
Roma/Gypsy people. However, we can confirm that, in general, special parts of the city were
traditionally inhabited by Gypsies in the margins of urban centres (Delepine 2007) and that,
as elsewhere in the urbanisation process, they were pushed further out during the more recent
urban developments and gentrifications. The very name of ‘gypsy neighbourhood’ does not
mean that the majority of the population is actually Roma, nor that the houses were different
from other houses in the city. It may simply have a depreciative connotation which refers to
the
poor conditions of older buildings. It is remarkable that in one particular city, Constanta,
Muslim and Christian Roma do not occupy the same neighbourhood.
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