Adriana Cupcea

The project puts forward the description of an unseen/unheard group, that of the Millet in Bucharest (known in the literature as Muslim Roma). The main aim of the project is to contribute to knowing the past and present of the Millet community here. By combining archival research with press analysis, demographic sources and the life histories interviews with key-witnesses from the community, a micro-history of the Millet community in Bucharest will be attempted, from their creation until the present day. Self-image and the image of Others are processes that I will analyse in the second and third objectives, from the perspective of ethnicity theories as put forward by R. Jenkins (1997), who distinguishes between social categorization as an external defining process and group identification, as an internal process, generated from inside the group. With these in hand the second objective addresses the positioning of the community vis à vis the outside world, by examining how the Millet community interacts with external actors and institutions. The research will identify the key-actors/ groups placed in a position of external authority and what the means/instruments used by them to impact/influence these communities are. The third objective focuses on the dual perspective of self-identification processes and image of the Others. This involves examining how members of the Millet perceive themselves, including their motivations for their choice for one ethnic or other identity (Turkish, Roma or Millet). Simultaneously, the research will explore how the community is perceived/classified by external groups (e.g. neighboring populations, local authorities).