:::OS URBANITAS - Revista de Antropologia Urbana::: ISSN 1806-0528 , Ano 4, v.4, nº 6 , dez. 2007

In the 70s Great Britain witnessed a new wave of transhumance; groups of people and families “chose” voluntarily to escape from the constraints of consumer society and/or the serious financial problems they faced by adopting an itinerant way of life. They were initially referred to as hippies and then came to be known especially in the British press as “New Age Travellers”. New Travellers are people living nomadically in a variety of vehicles and low impact dwellings and/or squatting abandoned farm houses and lands as well as city buildings. They are often presented as homeless delinquents looking for a roof over their heads or wild party-goers and drug addicts or as social and economic victims of an advanced capitalist society. They are often considered activist representatives of the British counter-culture. Yet, New Travellers cannot be represented as mere victims or criminals; beyond the stereotypes and the media hype, there is a complex phenomenon that cannot be interpreted simply as marginalisation.

It is estimated that in the 90s there were between two and fifteen thousand people living in makeshift dwellings (huts and cabins, tepees and benders) or rearranged mobile homes (trucks, buses, or caravans) and travelling across the country camping on legal and illegal sites (Stangroome 1993). Police sources estimated in 1995 that there were 1 800 vehicles belonging to non-Gypsies. The exact figure is difficult to determine as even Gypsy and Traveller numbers are not recorded at present in census records. However, in July 2004 the government counted 15,014 caravans in England and Wales. Most (10,777) are on council-run or legal private sites. Just over a quarter are on unauthorised sites (1,855) or roadside verges (2,409). The problem with figures is not only that they are imprecise but also they do not capture New Travellers as a sub-group. Nevertheless, what is certain is that the nomadic lifestyle generates an important re-socialisation process - with New Travellers giving a new meaning to community life.

Conducting research on a group that society considers marginal creates a difficult research situation because their alternative lifestyle is considered with mistrust and sometimes disdain by mainstream society. New Travellers consider a researcher as part of this same society that refuses their lifestyle, which consequently makes it problematical to just approach them and carry out an interview. It is important to recall that New Travellers are often occupying sites illegally and are therefore suspicious of strangers. For this reason after a few initial attempts at direct contacts I decided to get in touch with Travellers’ associations. Being introduced to a group by someone who has friendly relations with them means you can break down some of the communication barriers and some of the mistrust. I contacted Travellers’ School Charity (TSC) and Friends and Families of Travellers (FFT) and they were very helpful in giving me information about Travellers, their numbers, their health and legal situation and what was happening in the movement at that period (end of the 90s - 2001). In practice, my research began with the gathering of secondary ethnographic data - documents published by Travellers and other “alternative” groups and institutions working with Gypsies and Travellers in England. I interviewed the support workers, Travellers’ representatives and I was also allowed to accompany the organisations in their visits - which was extremely useful as New Travellers are often hidden away in hard to reach places in order to avoid being found by the police and being evicted from the land. Once I had some direct contacts I took into account the groups which could give access to other sites and other Travellers.

Photo by: Alan Lodge (Tash) n/d

My first encounters were with groups of Travellers that attended summer music festivals (Glastonbury, Rainbow Circus…) The Travellers’ associations organised events, workshops and stands in these festivals as well. There were a great number of debates concerning their everyday life, the practical problems they encountered and the political positions of the group, especially about what could be done to bring about changes in laws.

Most of the sites I visited were located in the south of England, where the presence of New Travellers is more widespread. This meant living with a group or various groups for a few weeks at a time (in the period 1998 -2001) and having the possibility to observe and gain the trust of members of the group who, once reassured of your intentions, opened up and discussed their lives, their ideas. This direct contact was important to integrate and correct the “filtered” information I received from the associations which sometimes glossed over the situation. The voyage with the Travellers' School Charity bus lasted approximately three months and made it possible to observe and interact with Travellers of all age groups and backgrounds. Once on the permanent and temporary sites, my investigation was based essentially on the method par excellence of social anthropology: participant observation.

Besides the participant observation, about thirty thorough ethnological interviews were carried out with the members of the target group. The use of such a technique aims at collecting information on their daily life and their life stories. This step presupposed the application of the semi-directive interview technique which favours the quality of the interpersonal relationship between the interviewer and the person interviewed so that they can raise the issues and the concerns which are of greatest importance to them. These interviews were carried out in the various sites and with members of the organizations working with Travellers. It is important to avoid formal questionnaires and interviews when working with this group because it’s the methodology used by government representatives and Travellers do not appreciate them at all. I used not only the data and the conversations with the associations who were obviously more politicised than the average Traveller but also the talks around the fire, the more formal conversations as well as my observation of how sites were organised to reach my conclusions. My research can be considered a socio-anthropological monograph, based on ethnographic data. The object of the study is New Travellers’ “life routine”. It is only by applying a phenomenological approach to the life of these people carrying out their day-to-day activities that it is possible to understand the real role of nomadism in the context of their lives. A systematic description and analysis of their daily life on the road makes it possible to comprehend the importance of these practices and life routines in forming their culture.

Since the adoption of a nomadic lifestyle is in part a result of intolerable life circumstances, this phenomenon cannot be analyzed independently from the socio-cultural context of advanced capitalist societies. It is widely recognised that the number of Travellers increased “dramatically” during the years of Conservative government because of the tightening of social benefits. However, this group’s reaction to exclusion acquires distinct features, unlike the social reactions in other periods of capitalism: the individuals who take part in this movement originate in the majority culture that they contest and especially in the beginning (70s - 80s) they participated in one way or another in the radical movements resulting directly from the counter-culture. New Travellers were subsequently “joined” by mainly young adults escaping intolerable social circumstances, besides the people who actively oppose the ways of life of advanced capitalist society. The Traveller phenomenon contains many internal contradictions: while they constantly reiterate the importance of community, like most people living in our society they remain strongly attached to individualistic ideals of life.

My research was inspired by interest in political forms of resistance. I wanted to see if this new nomadism could be considered a political act or merely a reaction to exclusion or a bit of both. New Travellers represent the underside of contemporary Western society and I think it is important to analyze the social forces at work which lead to the creation of social groups or minorities with their own culture and identity. This target group has not been vastly studied, Gypsies have always been stigmatised and these "new Gypsies" are no exception but besides the specific information that is provided through my work, this research offers the possibility of establishing analogies and differences with other marginal groups and/or other minorities (be they nomadic or not). The evolution of this movement, its origins and workings offer insights into exclusion and the forms of empowerment that groups may establish. New Travellers are part of the debate on respect for diversity and on social movements that contest uniformity, conformity and consumerism. My work is intended as another piece of a mosaic which, I hope, helps answer the broader, more global question about what happens to weaker, marginal groups in an advanced capitalist global society. What solutions do individuals and groups find to cope and take charge of their lives?

One of my main research questions was why do people originating from a sedentary context and living in contemporary Western society, sharing similar values with mainstream society decide to take the road and live in pre-modern conditions? It is impossible to state that New Travellers have a traditional “nomadic/travelling culture", a “heritage” which leads them to a life on the road. They were not born New Travellers, indeed many New Travellers come from a sedentary background and when I ask my informants about the reasons for their nomadism, they never mention cultural heritage or “race” as their "cultural reasons" to travel, as is the case for Romanies/Gypsies who speak of “blood” as a metaphor for ethnic continuity (Okely 1998, 1993). A brief summary of the reasons for adopting a nomadic lifestyle can be found in the Travellers School Charity (TSC) brochure which presents the goals of this itinerant school (TSC archives). Richie (chairman of TSC) enumerates the reasons drawing on the stories he has heard from his Traveller friends. He states that certain people choose this lifestyle when they are

Homeless; unemployed; abused by parents or family; started looking for work; couldn't afford rents; living in poor accommodation; had friends who are Travellers; going out with a Traveller; couldn't live in cities any more; wanted to be closer to the earth/nature; believed in a nomadic way of life; parents are Travellers; get away from possessions (i.e. TV. video, own house, etc.); avoid hard drugs; felt like living not just getting by; to get away from people telling me what to do all the time; something I just drifted into; wanted to meet new people; discharged from mental hospital/from army; seemed a good idea at the time; got pregnant.

Of course, this list is not exhaustive, each New Traveller you meet on the road can and does give different reasons for having chosen a nomadic lifestyle at a certain moment of their life. Earle (1994: 50-51) is aware of the great variety of reasons for adopting a nomadic lifestyle and classifies them in two categories : positive reasons and negative reasons. But, if on the one hand, Travellers themselves often speak of positive and negative reasons which led to their decision to hit the road, on the other hand when discussing their life stories, the two categories are not so clear-cut and there are many overlaps.

Listening attentively to New Travellers’ accounts shows that objective motives and subjective ones intertwine. To find a psycho-sociological explanation for this movement without downplaying its complexity requires an in-depth analysis of each Traveller’s life choices and personal history. To facilitate this presentation I will use two different categories, A) the objective reasons and B) the subjective reasons which lead New Travellers to adopt a nomadic lifestyle.

Photo by: Alan Lodge (Tash) n/d

Very few New Travellers who live on the road all year round state that they have chosen this lifestyle for purely ideological reasons (“ideological nomadism” is easier to find in semi-nomadic sites or communities/communes). Indeed, two thirds of New Travellers presently living on the road are people who have been drawn to a nomadic lifestyle because of financial and social hardship (cf. Davis et al. 1995 : 6, Frediani 2006). For most people, the decision to adopt a travelling lifestyle was considered as the only possible solution to a situation of social and economic distress. These individuals could be defined as socio-economic refugees who are fleeing their condition and indeed “The New Age Travellers of the nineties commonly describe themselves as “economic refugees”... “Refugees seeking shelter” (cf. Mckay 1996: 47). Martin (1997, 1998) speaks of two generations of New Travellers: those belonging to the counter-culture and those who especially in the 90s began to appear on sites driven by their dire economic situation. Their nomadism and lifestyle can be considered a result of their social and economic exclusion or marginalisation but they themselves also portray it as a successful attempt to overcome the difficulties they encounter. It would be wrong to classify New Travellers merely as a marginalised or deviant group. Describing them as marginalised and disenfranchised is over-simplifying a movement which began spontaneously but developed into a community protesting exclusion and defending their lifestyle, as we will see later.

My observations and studies revealed that the objective reasons leading to travelling are often unemployment, financial hardship, homelessness, and the psychological difficulties linked to family relationships, city life etc. These conclusions are confirmed by other researchers working in the field. Brown states in his degree paper, that the majority of those surveyed had come to travelling as a way of escaping homelessness, unemployment, inner city deprivation and poverty (1995: 116). I have heard stories of Travellers who had moved into squats or begun a nomadic lifestyle after leaving a psychiatric hospital. For people with practical problems, as in these cases, it is obvious that they have chosen life on the road because they considered it the best way to mitigate the difficulties linked to poverty and the housing shortage.

(...) I see the number of young travellers growing despite the government’s effort to make life difficult for them and to destroy this movement. As a result of the community charge many young people will not be able to pay for them and agencies working with the homeless see the community charge as a large factor in swelling the ranks of the young single homeless. Some of these young people will certainly end up as travellers. I expect a large increase in the next few years of New Age Travellers as a direct result of this legislation. (Stangroome 1993)

Though initially many Travellers confirm that the choice of a nomadic lifestyle was made in a moment of economic and personal hardship, or as a reaction to instability and constraints in their life, it must also be said that in general the nomadic lifestyle leads to an improvement of most people’s quality of life. Many New Travellers state that they no longer want to abandon this lifestyle to live “confined in a house” and that they have been seduced by life “on the road” and do not feel inclined to return to a sedentary lifestyle. As New Travellers point out, there are alternatives to living on the road (council housing, communities, squats) and the nomadic choice is therefore indeed a lifestyle choice.

Travelling as a lifestyle is considered by some to be a fun way to live; a convenient and amusing way to follow music festivals, raves and festivities taking place around the country. Festivals are also the “origin” of the “New Age Traveller” movement and the reason for their name. In the beginning of the 80s Stonehenge was the centre of an annual “pilgrimage” during the summer solstice. It was important to be mobile and to transport all the necessary equipment for the music festival (the sound system, the stage etc.). Because many people had old vehicles that often broke down, people began to travel in groups from one festival to the next to help out if necessary. These groups of people and their vehicles travelling together became known in the 80s as “The Peace Convoy” or “the Convoy” (McKay, 1996). Festivals are very important for the group in general especially in the summer months because during the festivals they are sure not to be evicted and they can make some money with arts and crafts and especially they can meet old friends, other New Travellers and exchange experiences and stories. In my interviews and conversations I noticed how the festival-goers repeatedly portrayed nomadic life as fun and free.

The demise of festivals in recent years however has created a series of problems for Travellers who have lost a source of income - selling food drink and crafts, helping with the organisational set-up. (Webster and Millar, 2001) Moreover, they have lost a place to exchange ideas with other members of their community. Many Travellers turned to rave parties in the countryside which exasperated existing tension with local populations and local authorities and also gave them very bad press. The British tabloids contributed to the wave of panic over Travelling communities which swept the countryside. Conflicts with landowners and the police increased and there was mounting pressure on legislators which in 1994 led to stricter laws on festivals and parking/camping in the countryside.

New Travellers believe there are many good reasons which could induce even sedentary people living comfortably without financial or social concerns to adopt a nomadic lifestyle. They refer to environmental and political values as well as the romanticism of this way of life and the quest for adventure. Nomadism is depicted as a return to nature and a simple and healthy lifestyle and travelling is considered a symbol of independence from the dominant consumerist lifestyle of advanced capitalist societies. New Travellers see themselves as free of the needs and norms that trap the sedentary community and they value this freedom highly.

Many New Travellers regret that in today’s urban societies (where most of them originate) the available space is decreasing and that closeness to nature is becoming virtually impossible and these New Travellers state that they have chosen nomadism because it uses up less space to live while offering infinite areas of land where they can roam. They consider the nomadic lifestyle as environmentally friendly as it requires only limited resources and hence takes less of a toll on the planet. Indeed the amount of water a New Traveller requires and the strategies used to save water are just one example they cite along with their low-impact often mobile dwellings.

New Travellers view sedentary life negatively, to them it means living cooped up in a house, which is fixed to the ground, always in the same surroundings and near neighbours they haven't chosen. On a site, you can pitch next to your acquaintances or move on to visit others. Many New Travellers state that they have chosen this lifestyle in order to live close to nature, in contact with the earth, plant life, animals, air and the changing seasons. As Earle states,

Nevertheless with the law restricting halts passed in 1994 (Criminal Justice Public Order Act - C.J.P.O.A. 1994) Travellers’ lives became more difficult. The CJPOA ’94 abolished the obligation for the authorities to create sites for Gypsies and Travellers and subsidies were also done away with, moreover the authorities were given instruments to treat squatting as a criminal offence. It especially targeted New Travellers and practically made their lifestyle illegal. The problem was compounded by the fact that the available sites are often in run-down areas near roads or in industrial areas with no facilities. (The law has recently changed with Circular 01/2006 (DOE) but it is too early to anticipate the effects on New Travellers’ and other Travellers’ lifestyles). (see Willers, Johnson 2004 for details on legal issues)

People who choose travelling for more “idealistic” reasons often come from a "less underprivileged" background and they tend to park with acquaintances who own large pieces of land or a community farm. Many New Travellers who value their lifestyle and have a positive outlook continue to live nomadically but try to avoid the sites. Others have abandoned nomadic life but remain attached to organisations defending the Traveller lifestyle and they participate in activities for and by this community. All these individuals who have a positive view of travelling believe that the New Traveller scene has changed enormously because of the strict laws and because of the arrival of "economic refugees and homeless" people fleeing the cities.

Some New Travellers have decided to adopt a nomadic lifestyle for political reasons - for example after having participated in a peace camp (especially in the 1980s) or in the demonstrations of the military bases of Greenham Common and Molesworth. With the end of the cold war, other political considerations became relevant, such as the anti-nuclear protests in the 1980s and 1990s, the anti-road protests and environmental demonstrations. Many young people left their sedentary lifestyle in order to follow the demonstration circuit throughout the year as well as the music festivals. Celia (interview n° 6) told me that during her years at university in the beginning of the 1980s she spent a lot of time following pacifist demonstrations. To be comfortable and to avoid living in a tent during these events she decided to buy a bus which meant she could avoid the exorbitant prices of rundown student flats as well.

Many Travellers speak of the libertarian ideals that inspire them and say they believe profoundly in the right to lead a nomadic life and that they have adopted this lifestyle as a form of protest. In the mid 1980s there were a series of police actions against Travellers and authorities remarked that there was a subsequent increase in the number of caravans on the road and on unauthorised sites. Kenny (interview n° 14), for example, had been thinking of adopting a nomadic lifestyle for a long time and says he was deeply shocked by the police intervention in the Beanfield affair in 1985

. This occurrence led this young man aged 19 at the time to take the road in protest with a group of friends. Politically, anarchists and people rejecting state authority joined the pacifists, the environmentalists and the various demonstrators and festival-goers and they all adopted a nomadic lifestyle. As Stewart says “If you want to oppose the respectable way of life in society, one of the ways of doing so has always been to become nomadic.” (Guardian Education, June 15, 1993)

New Traveller associations and New Travellers themselves have concentrated their political activism on opposition to the CJPOA ‘94 law and many lifestyle issues were a direct result of this law. With the new circular New Travellers are assimilated to Gypsies and Travellers with all the implications this has on issues of identity, community and the recognition of minorities. The fact that the government has included this group in its legislation is further proof that the New Travellers are a community to be reckoned with and that their lifestyle has political implications. Councils once again have a duty to evaluate the needs of Gypsies and Travellers (all Travellers, including New Travellers) and are required to build sites and foster private sites. This circular is of fundamental importance because Travellers need to reside on secure and stable sites – transient and longer term – if they are to link to the labor market, education and health services and basic facilities. (Webster and Millar 2001)

Whatever the political, personal or ideological reasons, it is impossible to deny the role of the objective circumstances (unemployment, high rents, psychological hardship etc.) which have led many people to take the road and become New Travellers, even when the subjective choice is described as positive and the result of a wish to be free. Travellers themselves recognize that a nomadic lifestyle is a way to escape precarious and unstable life conditions. But as their material conditions improve and as they begin to appreciate the freedom of living on the road, in the open and in the country with people who share their problems and their ideals, a sense of community forms and though they remain individualistic, they know they can count on each other for help.

There is no doubt that the New Traveller lifestyle is not about creating a utopian ideal. The original exclusion and the marginalisation the individuals were experiencing before choosing their Traveller lifestyle are essential elements explaining their choice. Nevertheless, the travelling choice cannot be considered merely as a consequence of material and financial difficulties. Interpreting the New Traveller lifestyle as a reflection of «subsistence culture» is a simplistic point of view. Paradoxically, though life on the road imposes living conditions that are not comparable to those of the cultural majority from where the Travellers originate, the type of nomadism practised offers individuals in precarious conditions the possibility of building a more secure life. New Travellers appreciate their new lifestyle because it perpetuates the tradition of travel, freedom of movement, life in the open, the good relationship with neighbours and the natural solidarity which flourishes on the sites. Class distinctions disappear and the informal pleasures transform nomadic life into something beyond exclusion. The New Traveller lifestyle represents a sort of «ideal egalitarian republic», a group living outside the boundaries of time and institutionalised and hierarchical space. The Traveller site is the place where at least temporarily an «idealised» social relationship is established. The community-based lifestyle offers collective support which is important to sustaining the travellers’ way of life on low incomes. Webster and Millar conclude in their study on employment and New Travellers that “few families would have been able to get work had it not been for the sharing of childcare” and also found that New Travellers tended to undertake activities that involved a reciprocal element and that they turned to their community first before turning to outsiders, when they needed help. They only turned to family when the help needed was beyond that which could be given by other travellers. (Webster and Millar 2001).

Descriptions of social exclusion often dwell on the poverty, the desperation and misery, showing how social relations and community life lose all significance for those living in precarious situations. Yet Travellers are characterised by this attempt to give a new meaning to life in society, it’s a lifestyle that creates a new community spirit. A travelling lifestyle is initially embarked upon as a reaction to exclusion, but nomadic life and contact between Travellers leads to the creation of a community bond. This nascent «feeling of identity and community» amongst Travellers is based on the solidarity which appears in moments of crisis (homelessness, evictions). New Traveller solidarity also stems from the need to pragmatically solve everyday problems. Common activities include daily chores and getting food through “skip runs” (taking food discarded by supermarkets because it has passed its sell-by date), fixing vehicles, finding a place to park. Skip-runs are very much part of the travelling culture and many regularly obtain food and other goods in this way. (Frediani 2006, Webster and Millar 2001) There is pride and a feeling of ownership about one’s vehicle or dwelling as well and New Travellers are especially proud of the fact that they are in control of everything that happens to it. They make repairs, they embellish it, they decide to move taking their homes with them.

What began as a reaction becomes a political act of protest and a viable way of life. What began as a sort of “non-choice” turned into a new movement made of individuals who are active players in their lives. New Travellers were looking for a way out of their misery and got more than better material conditions, they got a community and a sense of empowerment – the feeling that they were shaping their destiny instead of having it thrust upon them.

In advanced capitalist societies, the emergence of new collective «feelings of identity» leads to the formation of new «socio-cultural minorities». These «creative spirits» are putting together the pieces of an alternative lifestyle with a strong feeling of belonging to a «life community». The New Travellers’ feeling of identity and community is the result of their specific lifestyle, of the practises and experiences shared by this «social group» or «tribe». New Travellers do not consider their choice of living on the road in buses and fitted trucks or living in a community as unusual, nor do they believe it is a break from modernity, they acknowledge that they are part of modern society which is today multi-faceted and multicultural. Modern societies are indeed characterized by the presence of groups and individuals who recuperate and reinterpret old and/or foreign traditions.

When we refer to New Traveller «culture», it is actually a combination of multiple cultures that are intended. New Travellers indeed adopt cultural practices borrowed from various groups and adapt them to their specific life conditions. Individuals living nomadically do not necessarily have «ideological» links with counter-culture movements though they sometimes refer to them when looking for the roots and history of their movement. New Travellers state that the roots of their movement go back to the “Beat Generation”. They cite Kerouac’s On the Road, Ken Kesey’s psychedelic bus, and the “hippy” movement. Nevertheless many Travellers are not interested in or unaware of the counter-cultural aspect of their lifestyle.

The practises of traditional nomadic groups (Gypsies) have also been adopted and adapted by New Travellers who have tried to find some cultural links with Gypsies. Their cooking practises and food and water conservation for example are taken from the Gypsies but New Travellers usually mark their differences with this group and generally occupy different sites. Daily practises are often borrowed from traditional cultures and New Travellers' homes can be in the form of tepees or igloos. Their clothes and crafts are from youth culture – from punk to grunge. New Traveller culture is therefore an eclectic amalgamation of youth cultures, Asian mysticism, Native-American traditions, environmental concerns, pacifism, anarchy, Celtic paganism and the New Age movement.

Most New Travellers realise that their lifestyle and history are linked to mainstream society and they also hold the same sort of values as the wider population. These individuals live in constant contact with the outside world even though they contest certain aspects of society. The majority of Travellers are not socially unadjusted or «deviant». In my study, I see this dimension of social and cultural resistance as the result of a need to construct a New Traveller identity/culture through a process of identification/differentiation with respect to mainstream society. The main characteristic of this «minority group» living in advanced modern societies is the identification with what are typical modern values (freedom, individualism…) while at the same time they follow pre-modern practises and live in pre-modern conditions with little access to modern comforts.

The results of my work show that New Travellers, thanks to their «choice» of living with the basic essentials, have found alternative economic solutions to their insecure economic situation. It is not my intention to downplay the poverty of their condition by praising the concept of a «zen economy» (Sahlins 1972). Their situation is that of a poor minority group living in an affluent society. The insecurity of the travelling lifestyle and the socio-economic injustices New Travellers are subjected to are greater than those afflicting other members in contemporary Western society but the attitudes and the values adopted by Travellers aim at finding a solution to alleviate their destitution without following the proposed models. New Travellers praise their life away from the consumer and production mode, away from that same consumerist society where they have no place or social status, except as a marginal group. They believe their lifestyle offers them a level of freedom which it is impossible to attain if you are stuck in the consumerism of mainstream society, with its obligations to be sedentary, to have a regular job and to consume excessively.

New Travellers try to create simple community links through their lifestyle practises. Daily concerns such as obtaining water, food and a place to halt and practical issues such as vehicle mechanics and maintenance are central to this group’s socialization process: by creating their life and their routines day after day, they construct their own social reality. Nomadic practices become part of this feeling of identity and once the practical issues are solved and become routine, they give new meaning to the individual’s life and to community life. This is a pragmatic community, with very little internal organisation and no hierarchy. The absence of a recognised ideology acting as a bond between members means people identify their «group» by its specific «style», the travelling patterns, means of transportation, dress, and the type of habitat.

These daily activities and the ensuing lifestyle can be interpreted as social criticism or even political radicalism – many other researchers have indeed defined this movement as a « culture of resistance » (for example see Mckay, G. 1996). Their « act of resistance » is defined by their determination to live unconventionally, adopting a lifestyle that is sometimes illegal (trespassing, camping on unauthorised sites etc.(see, Frediani Etudes Tsiganes n°26, Nov 2006 for details on the legal aspects of travelling). New Travellers especially underline the fact that they have all chosen an alternative lifestyle which sets them apart from mainstream society and the prevailing consumerism. It is also in this sense that we can consider the act of travelling as profoundly political - as a form of criticism of industrialised society.

New Travellers do not defend their lifestyle, declaring that it can be followed by everyone in society. They do not consider it a transposable model. This social movement cannot be interpreted as a revolutionary movement advocating a new political or societal system. New Travellers “simply” advocate their right to live nomadically i.e. unconventionally, to improve their quality of life within a group which is loosely formed but shares the same life practises and acts with solidarity. For the majority, nomadism is an alternative to their social «invisibility» and «inexistence» in a consumer society that allows them no personal or social development. Instead of passively accepting their situation outside mainstream society, they choose a lifestyle which offers greater freedom than they would enjoy otherwise and a sense of community and belonging that they had lost. This alternative lifestyle acquires a new dimension of «social action». The simple fact of living nomadically makes these individuals subversive individuals, because they are transgressing established order and sometimes violating the law. This situation of marginality however forces them to create at least a minimum level of organisation in order to survive in an environment which is often hostile to their lifestyle (hence the creation of associations such as FFT, TSC, G&TLRC etc).

I believe these findings are important because of what they reveal about New Travellers and the society they come from. In a society that advocates values such as diversity, sustainable development and individual freedom, it is important for policy makers to target their policies to specific needs and to allow alternative groups such as New Travellers to thrive by guaranteeing their right to live “differently” instead of trying to “re-integrate” them. Current policies often emphasise the need to combat social exclusion but it is evident from my research and other studies that New Travellers want policies to help them sustain their way of living, not policies predicated upon them giving this up. (Webster and Millar 2001) Without much help, and with laws that created obstacles to their lifestyle, they still managed to get organised, to satisfy their basic needs and to create a community which was available to help in times of crises such as evictions. New Travellers with their mobile, community-based and low-impact lifestyle have often proved that they can take care of themselves even when all the odds are stacked against them. Perhaps with the government providing some infrastructure and no longer thwarting this community’s efforts, they will be allowed to persist in their initiatives and will become a permanent feature in the travelling landscape in a society that does more than pay “lip-service” to the notion of diversity and the fight against exclusion.

The Battle of the Beanfield as it has come to be known is considered by Travellers as the most barbarian act of violence practiced by the police force against New Travellers. June 1st 1985, a convoy of 300 New Travellers, approximately 150 vehicles, was driving to the site of Stonehenge where the summer solstice ceremony was to take place. They were attacked by the police force and violence erupted: car windows were smashed to pieces, Travellers were thrown out of their vehicles, beaten with bludgeons and the interior of the vehicles was destroyed. Travellers were unable to defend themselves from these attacks and fled to a beanfield in the vicinity. Encircled by the police force, many were beaten and mistreated and their trucks and personal belongings were completely destroyed. (Worthington 2005)

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