Questioning Gypsy Identity

Belton (YMCA George Williams College, Canning Town, East London, UK) argues that Gypsy identity is created and maintained not only by tradition and heredity but also by social and ideological factors. He offers an understanding of Gypsies, emphasizing the constant growth and the dynamism of the group, in an effort to raise awareness of the development of social, racial, and ethnic categorization and provide a broader understanding of the makeup and social constitution of the Gypsy population in the UK and U.S. The text draws on the author's personal experiences as an insider in the English Gypsy tradition and as an outsider and spectator of Gypsies in America. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

A renowned scholar and community leader, Brian A. Belton's career is a product of his Gypsy and working class background, and his experiences of growing up in the youth gang culture of London's East End in the 1970s. Notorious for his innovative, inspirational, and challengingly radical lectures, he advances a message of equality that resonates with scholars as well as the public at large. A prolific writer for both the academic and popular audiences, he is the author of a number of oral and sporting histories, including The First and Last Englishmen,Hammering 'Round, Founded on Iron, and Johnnie the One as well as scholarly works, including Gypsy and Traveller Ethnicity, forthcoming from Routledge. He is senior lecturer at the YMCA George Williams College in Canning Town, East London.