Country of residence

Spain

Brief introduction

PhD researcher, University of Barcelona / Université de Perpignan

Education

MA in Social Anthropology (University of Barcelona, 2008)

Academic profile

Martí Marfà i Castán holds a MA in Social Anthropology by the University of Barcelona (2008), after having spent a year as a visiting student at the University of Manchester. Between 2008 and 2011 he was a research fellow at the Departament of Social Anthropology of the University of Barcelona. In this very institution he is currently doing his PhD, under the supervision of Dr Manuel Delgado, jointly with the University of St Andrews, where he is supervised by Dr Paloma Gay y Blasco. Since 2004, he has been working among the Catalan Gitanos (Gyspies) in Barcelona and other Catalan localities, dealing with topics such as: identification and interethnic relations; religion, modern Christianity and new Charismatic movements; and music, the artistic process and the role of individual artists within the group. These studies have been mostly supported by the Catalan Regional Government. He also collaborates with the Associació de Joves Gitanos de Catalunya (Young Gitanos Organization in Catalonia) and he is founder and current secretary of the organization Foment de la Rumba Catalana (Promotion of the Catalan Rumba), where he leads projects on the pedagogy of music and the popularization of social sciences. He is also member of the the European Association of Social Anthropology and the Gypsy Lore Society.

Publications

• 2008. “De lejos y de cerca. Diferenciaciones y negociaciones identitarias entre gitanos catalanes y romá procedentes de Rumania”. Chapter in VV.AA., La política de lo diverso: ¿producción, reconocimiento o apropiación de lo cultural?, Barcelona: Fundació CIDOB.
• 2008. Singularitat carismàtica. Religiositat pentecostal i (re)construccions identitàries en una comunitat evangèlica gitanocatalana de Barcelona. MA thesis, to be published. University of Barcelona.
• 2010. “Conversions per rumba. L'extensió del pentecostalisme entre els gitanos catalans i el paper de les pràctiques musicals”, In (con)textos. revista d'antropologia i investigació social 4:42-63.

Keywords

Identification; musicianship; religion; individuality; Catalan Gitanos (Gypsies/Roma)

Contact

marfallona@gmail.com browse members list