Jennifer Lemminger

11/24/2015
Svinia in Black and White: Book Review
David Z Scheffel wrote Svinia: In Black and White after his experiences studying the
Roma of Svinia, Slovakia. Scheffel went to Svinia three separate times to work on, what he
called, the Svinia Project. He was there with his family from September 1998 to June 1999,
September 2001 to May 2002, and from January 2004 to June 2004. Scheffel made a few
important notes in his introduction: (1) that this ethnography is atypical because he refused to
only be a by stander; and (2) Scheffels goal in writing the ethnography, what went wrong in
Svinia. The ethnography does not have a lot of firsthand accounts from either the villagers or
the Roma. Scheffel said this was due to his involvement in helping the community as a whole.
This may actually be a good thing because he was able to observe so much.
This ethnography takes the time to investigate the discrimination of the Roma within
Svinia, and why the Roma of Svinia are worse off than other Roma groups in neighboring
villages. He attributes the Romas situation to two main events: (1) being the modernized
settlement that was established in 1959 to integrate better with the Slovak community; and (2)
the 1989 expulsion from that modernized settlement. Scheffel refers to this as ethnic cleansing.
After the introduction, Scheffel divides the book into three parts. The first part focuses on the
fragmentation of the community and more of the ethnic Slovaks point-of-view on a lot of thing
pertaining to their Roma neighbors.
To the ethnic Slovaks, the Roma are a devious drain on society. They reproduce like
rabbits and are not to be trusted. The Roma are not welcome in church or in the majority of town

for that matter. In this section Scheffel highlights how the Roma make up the majority of the
population in Svinia and is increasing while the ethnic Slovak population is decreasing. This has
been a source of some of the fear in Svinia. The ethnic Slovak population believes that the Roma
are constantly immigrating into the town, but Scheffel makes note that many of the ethnic Slovak
community do not take the time to get to know the young Roma in Svinia. Therefore it is merely
the youth growing up and remaining in the Roma settlement, opposed to new Roma families
moving in.
The second portion of the book is entitled Inside the Osada. This part takes a closer look
into the Romas living situation. Scheffel repeatedly states in this section that, although Slovak
discrimination is greatly hindering the betterment of the Roma in Svinia, the Svinian Roma are at
fault for their horrendous living conditions as well. To sum it up, the Roma settlement is
decaying. There are poorly constructed shacks all over the place. The state built housing is
crumbling. The streets are littered with fecal matter and garbage, and no one, including the
Roma, are doing a thing about it. The Roma in neighboring villages, who have identical
resources as those in Svinia, do not live in such a state of decay. Scheffel observed that the Roma
of Svinia taught their children such disrespect for their home. They allowed the children to go to
the bathroom where ever they please, and wreak havoc on the community by starting fires for
entertainment and by causing all sorts of destruction. It is quite sad really. They are not taught to
be hygienic which play into further discrimination because the ethnic Slovaks cannot handle the
smells and such.
The third portion of the ethnography explores the origins of Romani discrimination
throughout history. What is now Svinias Gypsy problem used to be considered Slovakias
Gypsy problem, according to Scheffel. This part highlights the enflamed ethnic relations

caused between Whites and the Roma. Slovakia has been constantly changing. First it was a
part of the Hungarian Kingdom, and it was that kingdom that introduced the Roma into the
population per anecdotes and historical records. Then there was the first Czechoslovakia, then
the Slovak Republic around WWII. Then back to being Czechoslovakia only to separate again in
1992. During the first Czechoslovakia the government implemented ways of containing the
Romani. Later during socialist rule, the communist party made an effort to encourage equality.
They built the state apartments discussed in the second part of the book, and tried to give the
Romani jobs. However, in Scheffels conclusion, he states that this socialist control was a major
factor in hindering the quality of life for the Roma.
According to Scheffel, prior to Soviet rule, the Roma had the means to have livestock,
and some in Svinia had a decent life. Their lives deteriorated when work was centralized in
collective farms. During this time there was also a push to use cement for large building projects.
This, again, took traditional jobs away from the Romani, because they produced a kind of
building material that was very stable called valki. With that building material no longer being
sought after many in Svinia stopped producing it, even though it was a cheap alternative to
cement.
This book was written with the purpose to educate. On the very cover it states, Teaching
Culture: UTP Ethnographies for the Classroom. I feel it accomplishes its goal of education. The
ethnography shows the most extreme situation for the Roma in Eastern Europe. It almost
screams for people to lend a hand to the impoverished and disenfranchised Roma of Svinia.
However, it does not beg for money but assistance, because the Roma are in no state to respect
and take care of things easily given to them. They need to be given the opportunity to learn like
the ethnic Slovaks of Svinia and work. They need to be taught responsibility to improve their

situation. I fear that it is almost hopeless, because they no longer want to help themselves. They
merely want the government to provide for them in the form of welfare.
For anyone who is looking to spend time assisting the Roma in the Slovak Republic,
reading this ethnography will be very beneficial. Scheffel writes in a way that is easy to
understand, as well as interesting. Through this extreme situation he is able to depict what people
might run into while living in the area. Scheffel describes in the introduction how his own family
had issues finding a place to live, even though they are technically white, just because he was
there to associate with the Roma. This is something that could be ran into when volunteering in
the region to help the Roma. Discrimination runs rampant here. Also, this can be used as a guide
in figuring out the best way to help the Roma of Svinia out of their marginalized situation.
It is important to remember that Svinia is a special case study. It depicts the extreme
consequence of socialism. In Slovakia the Roma only make up 2% of the population, but
elsewhere in the region they make up a larger percentage. Kligman (2001), reminds us that
everywhere the Romani exist they experience discrimination. In almost every location they are
seen as dirty, uncivilized, and as thieves, (Kligman 2001 and Scheffel 2010). Overall this
depicts the post socialist status of the Romani everywhere. This book can not only be applied to
those seeking to help the Romani in Slovakia and Svinia, but everywhere else in the region as
well.

Bibliography
Scheffel, David Z.
2010 Svinia: In Black and White. University of Toronto Press. North York, Canada.
Kligman, Gail
2001 On the Social Constructs of Otherness: Identifying the Roma In Post Socialist
Communities. Los Angeles, CA.