"In Relative StrangersArpan Roy has produced an outstanding investigation of the 'secret selves' of an urban nomadic community--the Dom Romanies of Jerusalem and Gaza. This anthropological portrait is intriguing as it is illuminating. It focuses on the destiny of the Dom Romanies as a microcosm of the Palestinian condition--experiencing exile, refugeehood and urban dislocation."--Salim Tamari, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Birzeit University "Relative Strangersis a fascinating account of how informality, memory, and kinship shape one another among Romanies in Palestine. It shows in a thought-provoking way how the everyday politics of ethnicity works while remaining invisible to outsiders and uncontrollable by the state."--Péter Berta, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London "Relative Strangersis absolutely beautiful. Arpan Roy's prose is elegant, sensitive, and compelling. Roy's ability to mobilize classic anthropological studies - those of Lévi-Strauss, Dumont, Schneider, Lewis, and Fortes, among others - to illuminate contemporary issues is both refreshing and compelling.

"--Jean-Michel Landry, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Carleton University "Awesomely intelligent and original, and based on meticulous fieldwork, Arpan Roy's study of Romanies illuminates everyday life in Palestine in unexpectedly complex and invigorating ways - a tour de force."--Michael Taussig, Class of 1933 Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University.