Characteristics of Identity in the Southern Great Plain

Abstract

This research was made relevant by the fact that the problems of identity became a focal point of the Hungarian social science research over recent years. Also, there are hardly any examples in Hungarian technical literature discussing the sociological or social geographical aspect of the identity organised by historical and geographical belonging.

In the study, local identity is considered as an organic part of the sense of social identity, on the basis of which the individual considers and believes him/herself a member of a social group which is wider than the personal contact network of the individual, and can be defined by a geographical category. During the research, the essential aspect was what categorisation (place of residence, micro-region, county, region) was the basis of the designation of the group, but it did not mean that spatial determination was exclusive. The basis of local identity in our opinion is those emotional and cognitive characteristics which define the belonging to the group described by the given categorisation, thus the belonging to a local or regional group also means the sense of identity with the traditions and value system of the group.

The primary objective of the research was to explore which representations of the basic territorial categories of local and regional belongings (locality, micro-region, county, region) are present in the thinking of the people. During the exploration survey we thus concentrated on the comprehension of concepts in the first place, but we also dealt with the characterisation of the value systems, in addition to a few topical questions connected to regional development (organisation of the regions, EU accession etc.).

The most important findings of the survey carried out in the three counties of the South Great Plain (Bács-Kiskun, Békés and Csongrád), with an N = 1200 sample, are as follows:

• For those who live in South Great Plain, the region and the micro-region are a geographical rather than a socio-historical concept.
• The most dominant element clinging to the region, besides the aesthetic environment and local patriotism, are relatives and friendships, while the least favourable are leisure time facilities and conditions of financial character. These also characterise the belonging to the county and the micro-region. Further analyses justified that the population of the three counties relates to the different levels of the living environment with the same feeling of identity.
• From among the assumed content criteria of local patriotism, in three (i.e. cultural, economic and social) cases, the comprehension of the concept by the population is mostly characterised by division, while in the fourth case a clear majority excludes the political activity or behaviour from the definition of the term. For the majority of the people, a local patriotism free from politics is rather of cultural, economic and social content.
• The relative majority of those capable of changing their place of residence would move to a settlement in Transdanubia, also, mentioned many times as potential destinations were the towns of the South Great Plain.
• The majority of those living in the region believe that the acknowledgement of the people in their own settlements mostly depends on the clinging to a settlement, a leading local position, school education and a firm financial background. In regional recognition it does not malter at all which county or part of Hungary one lives in, it is not definite, either, if somebody is from Budapest or from a neighbouring country.
• The people consider the most important task of the region the expansion of job opportunities and the implementation of development objectives relating to the improvement of the health care system.
• The population of the three counties thinks that the most suitable centre of the South Great Plain region is the seat of Csongrád county, Szeged.
• The population of the South Great Plain region is more concerned about the disadvantages rather than the advantages of the EU accession of Hungary, because they expect an increase in the existing social and territorial disparities.