National identity of Hungarian minority differentiated by social status

Abstract

The study is an analysis of national identity and its manifestation in ethnically mixed areas such as Transylvania. The collective identity, and especially the national identity, manifests itself in different modalities according to the social status of the persons, and this aspect has to be kept in view for an adequate analysis of the collective identity. Thematically the analysis comprises some dimensions of the minority national identity of the citizens, such as: the importance of the national belonging in the individual's attitude, and disposition, the criteria of appertaining to the national community, the cognitive and affective connections of the concept of homeland, the perception of the dimensions of their own national group, the national auto- and hetero-stereotypes, the perception of the minority situation and discrimination and their possible identity building (forming) function, the attitude towards the „other" nation, the nature of the regional linkage, the relevance of the national symbols and holidays, national reference persons, a differentiated analysis of some minority and political aspects questions of the historical consciousness, perspectives on social position

Livelihood Strategies during the COVID-19 Epidemic in Materially Disadvantaged Roma Communities from Covasna County, Romania

“…The qualitative data used as empirical sources come, on the one hand, from secondary analysis of qualitative interviews in the United Networks project (published in Veres et al 2017), in which the author did fieldwork in selected localities in this project. During the pandemic period, from April to June 2021, participatory observation was again conducted by the Max Weber Research Center and Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Hungarian Sociology Department, and more qualitative information on Roma livelihoods and life strategies was gathered during the pandemic period.…”

“…The third type of process described by the results of the project is the gradual ethnic segregation and homogenization of villages that had been ethnically mixed for decades in this area, when the Hungarian population almost entirely moved out of the mixed villages (which are peripheral areas with poor accessibility and infrastructure), leaving the Roma population in the majority (see in Hetea, the Vâlcele commune and Székelypeterfalva, the Zăbala commune, and Covasna County). In addition to these, the situation of isolated and inaccessible villages is also present, which further deepens the disadvantage of their situation as they lack the resources to work abroad, are not employed in the region, and face problems in obtaining social benefits in many cases (see also Veres et al 2017). The conditions observed during the anthropological fieldwork conducted as a final chord of this project from 2017-2018, and the municipal data collected, formed the point of comparison for the present study to describe the conditions before the COVID-19 pandemic, which will be returned to in the methodology and analysis.…”

“…Employed abroad, medium income and material situation This includes the majority of Ojdula-Kishilib and a small proportion of Borosneu Mare village residents and Zabala-Pava residents. The population of Ojdula, especially of Roma ethnicity, is about 70% (according to the 2015 local survey, see Veres et al 2017). The income of the Roma population tends to come from seasonal activities abroad.…”