Hardi Tamás - Tóth Károly (szerk.): Határaink mentén. A szlovák-magyar határtérség társadalmi-gazdasági vizsgálata (2008) (Somorja, 2009)
Esettanulmányok
Summary 221 contacts on the Hungarian side well demonstrates that those in leading positions and the self-employed have the more extended networks of relationships. This correlation on the Slovak side is slightly modified: probably because of the more active employment practice even the blue-collar workers have a higher probability of contacts to the Hungarian side and a larger number of ties as well. Possible obstacles of the cross-border strong ties In case of the family and friendly relations we asked about those external obstacles which may make difficult, or set back keeping in touch with the people on the side of the border. The list is not complete but it involves the most important elements, among which the first ones are time, spatial distance and the impact of infrastructure (Table 3). Among the inhabitants living on the Slovak side and having contacts in Hungary we found a bigger proportion of those who met some difficulties. The first in the order of the obstacles was the lack of time, which in the globalising society of our times does not only affect the interpersonal interactions but also several other aspects of our lives. The smallest problems were accessibility and the role of the border, according to the respondents. It seems that the closer communication and interaction of the inhabitants on the two sides of the border have mostly been set back by unfavourable factors coming from their own lives, in which the two dominant factors are the lack of free time and the disparities of the financial means. SOCIAL CAPITAL AND ITS SPATIAL ASPECTS At each strong and weak tie we asked about the spatial location of the contact persons on the other side of the border. On the basis of this we can designate the extent of the crossborder social capital and the concentration of the ties. Our question concerned if there were dense points of ties and if so, which settlements concentrated the contacts. We expected the appearance of the natural tendencies coming from the demographic weight of the respective settlements, i.e. that in the cities, due to their size, we would possibly find more relatives, friends, acquaintances and colleagues. In the case of strong ties, most respondents on the Slovak side have relatives or friends in the capital city, which is followed by the big cities and the local centres along the border. A similar logic can be seen at the weak ties, where the outstanding position of the capital city can also be seen. The situation of Komárom is to be selectively mentioned, as this city has the third highest num-Table 3. The Obstacles of Strong Ties (%) Obstacles Hungarian sample Slovak sample Shortage of time 38.1 45.6 Financial reasons 25.7 41.5 Illness 24.8 26.4 Lack of car 23.6 25.5 Big geographical distance 16.8 25.0 Bad public transport access 15.2 18.6 State border 8.8 2.1 Bad accessibility 7.2 6.7 Source: Questionnaire survey of inhabitants (2008).
