•  
  •  
 

Southern Anthropologist

Abstract

This essay applies theory and method developed over the past two decades by a number of cognitively- and psychologically-oriented social scientists to explore antipathy between Czechs and Roma in the present-day Czech Republic. It investigates how Czech understandings of personhood and otherness are variously organized, acquired, and practiced. Although ethnic hatred continues to be a problem in the Czech Republic, recent findings in psychological anthropology advise against assuming that it is reproduced wholesale from one generation to the next—nor even one instant to the next. The main source of data is the narratives of twenty-five young Czechs, who recall their earliest childhood encounters with Roma. I use their stories to explore the early learning of ethnic categories and formation of affects and motives, based on both the regularities they experience as members of Czech society and the unique circumstances of their individual lives.

Relational Format

journal article

Accessibility Status

Searchable text

Download

Share

COinS