Méfiance morale, suspicion politique. Santé publique et relations dans les camps roms de Rome

This contribution builds on ethnographic fieldwork focused on the activity of a mobile public healthcare unit dedicated to Roma camps in Rome, Italy. An analysis of the relationship between institutional representatives and the Roma population is brought to light through observations of medical consultations. Examining what happens during medical activity reveals both the State dimension of everyday life in a context of extreme precariousness and the ethics of social justice circulating in the camps. The moral feeling that emerges in a reciprocal and constant way in these interactions is mistrust. This article focuses on the uses of this feeling both on the sides of Roma and medical personnel, and on its effects on the issues of health, public healthcare and control in Roma camps in the Italian capital.