Torsello, Davide - Pappová, Melinda: Social Networks in Movement. Time, interaction and interethnic spaces in Central Eastern Europe - Nostra Tempora 8. (Somorja-Dunaszerdahely, 2003)
Aknowledgement
Social networks and social capital 21 encouraging migration amongst their compatriots and this situation is now developing amongst Ukrainians. Whilst Ukrainian illegal workers used to work mainly in the neighbouring countries during the 1990s, (as described by Drbohlav 1996 and Uherek and Plochová, this volume) they have now increasingly appeared in Portugal and Italy in the last years. The sudden insurgence of so many Ukrainians (previously unknown in these regions) in the informal labour market can best be accounted for by the networks and informal migration institutions (such as recruitment agents) which can help to establish migration systems between sending and receiving countries (Patsurko 2002). Despite the increasing work on social networks and social capital, a number of problems remain. What is less often discussed is how these social networks operate - or indeed what a social network is. Granovetter made an early and important contribution in his discussions of the importance of “weak ties” in finding a job (Granovetter 1974). The analytical importance of strong ties vis-à-vis weak ties of reciprocity is something which is lacking and sociologists, economists and political scientists do not tend to analyse this. A more anthropological approach is needed here perhaps. Although social capital is normally seen as a good thing, a way of promoting social cohesion, we need to understand the way in which social networks work in order to see if this is really the case. For example, social networks can be a way of reinforcing existing social inequalities. Many feminists have argued that it is through such “old boys clubs” that men have been able to keep resources for themselves and exclude women from public positions. At the other social pole, unemployed people are likely to lose their social networks when they cannot afford to participate in the normal social interaction required to maintain such contacts (Jahoda 1982). Furthermore, some would argue that the "social network" in the form of a set of meshed links, like a spider web, as they are usually conceived, is an inappropriate metaphor. In fact people have “personal communities” which are often not
