Torsello, Davide - Pappová, Melinda: Social Networks in Movement. Time, interaction and interethnic spaces in Central Eastern Europe - Nostra Tempora 8. (Somorja-Dunaszerdahely, 2003)
Interethnic spaces
A village on the ethnic periphery 125 however, the number of private agricultural enterprises is also increasing. In the beginning of the 1960s, a large chemical factory, called DUSLO, was built near to the village. Today, it employs around 4500 people from the nearby towns and villages. With regard to employment, the DUSLO and the district town, Šaľa has a significant role. Because of its vicinity it also provides the community with the necessary infrastructures (medical, post, train, etc.). In 2000, there were around 78 unemployed persons in the village. Impressions, opinions According to the committee’s evaluation, in the recent period (particularly in the 1990s), the village has witnessed significant changes. The ethnic composition of the community has been changing. When searching for the causes of this change the committee members mentioned first of all large-scale immigration, out-migration of the intelligentsia13 and social insecurities. In September 2000, at the parents’ request, a Slovak class was opened in the then solely Hungarian kindergarten, for which there was no precedent. This happened in spite of the fact that the presence of the Slovak parties and cultural organisations in the village is insignificant. True, at the same time the activity of the Hungarian cultural organisations was also inexistent. The committee found this situation desperate and the members waited with much expectation for the results of the latest census. The results of our survey only partly support these presumptions. In spite of the measurable assimilative processes, the overall image of the village is still showing a Hungarian picture (with regard to the ethnic structure, use of language and the choice of language of instruction, it is still a Hungarian community). However, in the course of our survey we observed tendencies that indicate that in a ten years time radical changes in the ethnic structure of the communi-
