Torsello, Davide - Pappová, Melinda: Social Networks in Movement. Time, interaction and interethnic spaces in Central Eastern Europe - Nostra Tempora 8. (Somorja-Dunaszerdahely, 2003)
Time and social networks
Managing instability 79 members with large kin networks and the “lonely“. Like trust among family members, the act of trusting (and respecting) these personalities brings about a number of expectations and obligations. Those sitting at the large tables had to behave properly; they would not talk loudly even when drunk and would not leave the table before the music started. These forms of behaviour constituted part of their obligations towards the public. On the other hand, those from the “lonely table“ were not surprised by this behaviour, it is in a way expected. This explains why some avoid participation, especially in the formal part of the evening. However, many do not have this choice since it would be bad behaviour for them not to join their families. Belonging to these tables entails a set of duties that goes beyond the position of the individual, but which defines his/her social evaluation in light of his/her kinship sphere. In this sense, trust acquires the shape of a bilateral action which needs to be implemented by particular rituals (such as respecting the family etiquette) sanctioning the position of the individual within the family and of the family within the village. Community action After the local social and cultural clubs, the second institution to which people attribute comparatively high levels of trust is the church. Although it is undeniable that when asked about the trust they have in the church they thought about the Roman Catholic Church as a formal institution (the village is 98 percent Catholic), respondents had in mind the local representatives of these institutions. Religious practices have seen a renaissance in the village since 1989. Even during the late socialist period (1980s) there was a certain lassaiz-faire attitude towards religious practices in Slovakia, especially in rural areas. Local priests have always played important (and often contradictory) roles in these communities and their position was often determined by two concomitant factors: their relationship to the party and the state ideology, on the one hand, and their rela-
