Chapter 7 ░ The Mechanisms of Independence Economic Ethics and the Domestic Mode of Production among Gabori Roma in Transylvania MARTIN OLIVERA It is mid October; winter is coming. Bobi has been waiting for months for the job of the season. He would like to marry before the end of the year but must irst ‘make money’. He wants to throw a beautiful biav (wedding), which would show his parents, uncles, aunts and cousins that he is not just anyone, or at least that he is not one of those who marry quickly around a lean chicken dish and a few beers. He could have had a respectable wedding last year while he was working for ‘his’ boss in a nearby village, where he worked several months on the rooftop of a fac- tory that produced motorcycle helmets. But at the time, Bobi did not feel ‘ready’ for marriage. And, of course, all the money earned a year ago is a distant memory. If Bobi does nothing serious before the snow and ice arrive, the prospect of marriage will be delayed for at least six months. The young man knows that his parents care for him, his aunts looking at him askance: ‘This boy doesn’t seem to want to marry’ (Kodo baro şavoro inka ci kamel te lel Romni). In this context, everything worries and annoys him. And his mood darkens as the days shorten. But one morning, while he is preparing for another day of inactivity, Ianos, a former neighbour, enters Bobi’s house: one of his distant cousin needs gutters for her new home. The next Sunday, I accompany Bobi when he goes looking for Ianos and his mother, so she can show us the road and, more importantly, in- troduce us to her niece. We arrive there an hour later, shake hands and let the Gaži do the presentations. The niece promptly takes us to see the house. ‘My husband is in Italy for work’, she explains. ‘We have just completed the construction of the house. We want to install the gutters before winter’. Then, she asks, ‘Well, how much will you take for the job