The Gitanos of el Rastro carry an 'ontology of simultaneity' as self-employed traders and Pentecostal practitioners in Madrid. This makes the Spanish Romani be considered as both a part of and apart from mainstream society. This book is an anthropological account of a group of middle and upper-class Gitanos and their ways of creating a 'society within society' based upon distinct cultural, moral and ideological values, notions and practices. The study renders a comprehensive perspective on social processes of classification, stratification, 'othering' and the role of 'strangers' in society and how these processes unfold in the interface between social, ritual and economic life on a local to global scale.

List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments

Introduction: Situating the Field

Part I

Chapter 1. Becoming Part of the Ethnographic Field
Chapter 2. Gitano Ethnic Identity: Between Being and Becoming

Part II: Introduction to the 'Making of Market'

Chapter 3. Los Comerciantes Del Rastro and the 'Gitano Niche'
Chapter 4. The Mercurial Merchants of El Rastro

Part III: Introduction to the 'Making of Mercy'

Chapter 5. Apollo and Dionysus: In the Depths of El Culto
Chapter 6. Dualities in Motion
Chapter 7. Towards a Spiritual Gaze and Cultic Habitus

Part IV: Introduction to the 'Making of Meaning'

Chapter 8. Flexible Cosmology and an Ontology of Simultaneity
Chapter 9. Towards a Community of Signs

Conclusion: Ritual, Rapture and Rebellion

References
Index

Marianne Blom Brodersen is a social anthropologist and Associate Professor in social work at Nord University, Norway. Her research focuses on ethnography and phenomenologically oriented anthropological theorizing across a range of fields and topics, especially alternative forms of social organization and radical societal change.