SOCIAL CONTINUITY IN A WESTERN.HUNGARIAN VILLAGE

Mdrton Kemdny, Eiitvtis Lordnd University, Budapest, Hungary

This paper suntmarizes nry preliminary
ethnographic findings ofmy PhD research project;
l) what extent Hungarian village society has
preserved continuity in terms of social relations
(kin. neighborhood. friend, work, patron-client,
etc.) and communal character, 2) what sort of
social network and shared sets of norms establish
relations among vil lagers today, 3) what the nature
of trusted and mistrustful relations are, and 4) what
kind of patterns can be followed today. These
issues are investigated through an analysis ofthe
drastically changed structure of20'n century local
employment (obs carried out at workplaces.
small-scale farms and in the households).
Therefore, the main question concerns the
relationship between local socier,v and its economy
in relation to present national and transnational
economies.

The relationship between local norms and
the ideology of macro-economic polit ics and
policies is sometimes in opposition in post-
socialist countries and, therefore, emerges as a
quite relevant research topic for economic
anthropologists (cf. e.g. Hann 2003). The collapse
ofthe socialist state and cooperative paternalism
(guarantee forjob, pension, health service,
agricultural acquisit ion, and sell ing etc.), a 'great
transformation' ( Polanyi | 9 44) to use Polany i' s
term. draws attention to transformations that take
place in local norms.

I had been c4rrying out my ethnographic
fieldwork in a Hungarian village. Soml6vdsiirhely,
since the summer of 2004. The fieldwork is based
on semi-structured, qualitative (biographical and
topical) interviews and participant-observation.
Appfying the concept of 'ethnographic present'
(cf .  K<ist l in,  K.  l99l ;  Sanjek.  R. l99l) ,  in the
course of my fieldwork, I determined the temporal
framework of the collected material as follows:
besides contemporary. current phenomena such
data are to be analyzed that the menrbers ofthe
local community are able to recollect in addition to
historical sources available in archives and
libraries.

The settlement

Soml6v6siirhely is situated in a small
Transdanubian (Western Hungarian) wine-region,

which includes only one hi l l  ( 'Som16') .  l ts
informal designation is'the capital of Sornl6',
because it was the largest seftlement around the
hill, and it was a market town (mez_vltros) during
fbudalism. In l87l Soml6viis6rhely lost its
municipal rights and became a vil lage again. The
number of local population rose unti l the end of
the l9'n century (in 1890 the settlement had 1920
inhabitants), and since then it has been decreasing.
Especially in the inter-war period, quite a lot of
vil lagers emigrated, for example, to the U. S.,
whereas later, in socialism, people moved to towns
within the country. The rate of immigrants was
never lr igh. In 2001 the number of local residents
was l, l2l. As far as religious and ethnic identity is
concerned, almost all villagers declared
themselves Hungarian and Roman Catholic, and
one percent ofthe inhabitants, professed that they
are Gypsy.

The village demonstrates the
characteristic features of continuity and change
(tradition and modernization). In the post-socialist
era, the decline of the micro-regional industry and
the unfavorable alteration ofthe structure of
agriculture have forced several villagers to
continue or revive traditional strategies. On the
other hand, favorable cond itions of transportation
and vine growing, as well as the relative closeness
of towns. provide opportunities fbr survival:
employment, trade and enterprises. ln 2004 the
rate of local unemployment was under four
percent.

The cultivated land of the vil lage
comprises 2,321 hectares. Wine growing is the
most important source of income locally, whose
roots go back to the Roman era (Csoma 1986;
Miirkusne 200 l). About two thirds of the owners
are extreneous (i.e. their place ofresidence is not
in Soml6v6siirhely), meanwhile a lot of local
inhabitants are part-time or full-time employees in
these vineyards. The significance of agriculture in
other sectors (field plant growing, animal
husbandry) is fall ing; in 2001 there were 425
households but in 2000 there were only 189
private farms in the settlement.

The socialist cooperative was transformed
into a private corporation at the beginning ofthe
I 990s; at present these successor organizations

2005. Paee:47Vol.  23.  No. 2 Fal l



cultivate landed properry of those village people
who leased theirs. The rrearby town (Ajka) had
been the center of mining and heavy, processing
industry since the second half of the l9'n century.
The building and light industry of the other
neighboring town (Devecser) was centrally
devef oped in the socialist period. ln2001 73.5o/o
(Census 2001) of the employees were commuters,
who work, in most cases, in these two towns.

In the local community, which has
permanently undergone transformations ow in g to
the profound socio-economic as well as polit ical
changes ('changes of systems', rendszervdltdsok)
of the 20''' century, (i.e. nationalization,
industrial ization, urban izat ion, re-privati zation,
capitalization), continuity is observable in social
status, economic and employment patterns,
occupations both in the local economic relations,
the whole social networkins and hierarchv of this
vil lage community.

Status groups

They are the descendants ofthe one-time
local, wealthy families that launch the most
significant (agricultural) enterprises and who are
the most important landowners nowadays. In this
vil lage there were a lot of families that became the
members of the nobility (arndlis nemes) in late
feudalism, in the l7-18"' centuries (M6rkusnd
2001: 152'_166). Most of them received the title
and the rights owing to their fbrmer military
service and merits in war against the Turks, but
they were not given estates. As a consequence,
their lifestyle usually remained similar as that of
peasants, but they acquired anew noble identity. In
Hungary, this was a typical way for social rise at
this if l  the l7t" and l Srr' centuries. This new noble
group was more or less endogamous.

According to historical sources on the
influential families of that time, the same names
can be found later in the era ofthe'half-feudal'
capitalism (l 848-1949, wherein social structure
and hierarchy remained similar to the former one),
or as nowadays. The same families had the most
important roles in the local economy regardless of
the actual polit ical-economic setting (i.e. either
before or after socialism), and these families are
the descendants of those noble families. Their
social capital had persisted through all political
systems: there is a strong reciprocify among them,
they have a considerable number of patron-client
relations, and in some cases they hold an office in
the local administration or in the wine-resion. The

economic capital that they lost during the socialist
collectivization was an important basis for them
during re-privatization in the 1990s; they are self-
reliant, are able to found enterprises, and they
operate a local paternalist system. In socialism
they had usually non-agricultural workplaces
combined with some household plot farming as an
auxiliary source of income, which was made
possible by introduction of the New Economic
Mechanism of Hungarian govemment after | 968.
At present the most considerable entrepreneurs are
the men in general, while women work at public
institutions of the vil lage such as local council,
vineyards' council (hegtkozsdg), primary school,
and kindergarten.

To demonstrate my observation, I wil l
describe two families who have high social-
economic position in this settlement.

The first family I wil l discuss here is the
one whose members followed entrepreneurial
patterns in each socio-polit ical systenr of the 20'l '
century and occupied several positions. Their
ancestors were vineyardists on the large estates of
the Church; they had several shops, large plots of
land (8- l0 hectares), a threshing-machine, and
they were also enga_eed in animal husbandry. In
addition. they practiced some cultivation, and
employed villagers as servants and seasonal
workers to work form them.

After socialist nationalization, one of the
descendants graduated from a university in
Budapest. and later in the 1970-1980s, he fulf i l led
several leadership positions (appointed managing
director) of the Hungarian Airlines. Later, in post-
socialism. he became the first leader of the
communify of wine-growers (heg,bi16; and of the
vineyards' council. He was the first in the vil lage
to establish a company of viniculture together with
his brother using 5 hectares ofre-privatized land of
their family. His nephew had several enterprises in
late socialism, and later. he set up another
company for viniculture including wine-growing
on 4 hectare-rented land, wine bottling and wine-
tourism. Presently, he employs quite a lot of
villagers. Altogether, the family has been one of
the main local integrators of labor in pre-socialism,
socialism and post-socialism, too.

Another local group of collateral families
that I wil l depict is those who owned the largest
landed property (10-15 hectares) and livestock in
the vil lage before socialism. In the first socialist
period (1949-1953) one of them was stigmatized

Vol. 23. No. 2 Fal l  2005. Pase: 48

I



as kuldk. Later, since the subsequent period of
socialism, three lineages of the descendants had
followed quite similar strategies; they became
agricultural entrepreneurs in thel970s. They bred
livestock and owned tractors. At present, after
decollectivization andlor re-privatization, they
have some of the largest farms in the village again
(8-12 hectares). and they sell grain and livestock
home and abroad. They are private entrepreneurs,
but the complexitv of their farm structure with a
lot ofagricultural branches rooted in peasant
nornrs (cf. Fel and Hofer 1972).

They have strong co-operations not only
between the l ineages. but also with other
influential agricultural entrepreneurs. They have
also become local integrators in the vil lage; one of
them cultivates almost all lands in the vil lage and
in the micro-region for capital; another descendant
sells pigs to most of the local families every year
as most of the families abandoned fattening pigs
the past years. In addition, they also unofficially
provide credit to poor vil lagers.

The non-agricultural entrepreneurs

[loiners, builders, carriers, etc.) have different
social backgrounds; they are the descendants of
former nobles, or other 'genuine' vil lagers or
settlers (newcomers). They have no family farms
or auxil iaryjobs. and they do not occupy posts in
the vil lage. They are indeed successful, but it is
based on their cultural capital (education) or on
their individual entrepreneurial facil i t ies and skil ls.
They have strong econolnic connections with the
previous described group.

They are. in essence, the descendants of
the former lower and middle strata who are at
present industrial workers or employees of the
third sector. Pluribctivite is a key concept in this
case as these people have workplaces, a little
vineyard or other sorts ofdecollectivized land, but
they also have seasonal agricultural or other types
ofjobs. As far as their survival strategy is
concerned, they act often exactly in the same way
as their ancestors did. They already had more
income sources in pre-socialism. In Hungary, in
the socialist era (since the New Economic
Mechanism in 1968) it was a typical way to work
in the 'second economy.' which means that
villagers - following peasant patterns (an altered
version of mentality desoibed by Chaianov,
( 193 l) - self-exploited themselves, since they
worked not only at their official places of work but
also in their household farms (haztitjl) for self-
sufficiency and trade. This pattem subsisted after

the socialist regime collapsed with moderated
possibil i t ies (no cooperative paternalism any
longer). Recently, however these small plots
(usually under I ha) and small-scale farming units
in general, lost their importance due to price cuts.

The most common auxil iary job has been
seasonal day-work (napszrim) in these vineyards in
each and every socio-economic system. It can be
also noted that thesejobs. carried out in the
informal economy were/are often the same in each
polit ico-economic era. For instance, if the male
members of the family were carpenters in the
second economy under socialism, it is very l ikely
that the male nrembers of this very family take up
carpentry in post-socialism besides having
permanent jobs. This can be observed with female
members of a family, too. However, these
auxiliary jobs are often more secure than the ones
in the fornral economy, since several factories and
other workplaces had been shut down recently, and
their future depends on investments of the Swiss
and French owners. Due to the supranational
tendencies of the global economy, vil lagers and
urbanites already suffer the consequences ofthe
shut-down of the sewing factories in this micro-
region. Their explanation for all these changes,
however, is the Chinese over-production and
import.

Ethnic minorit ies have great economic
impact on the social-econonric structure of the
vil lage. From the middle of the l8'h century unti l
the 1920s, a large Jewish community l ived here.
Generally. they were wine-sellers by profession,
but most of them moved away from the village a
decade before the Holocaust.

Until the beginning of the year 2000,
there were only few Gypsy families in this vil lage,
however, the number of Gypsy families had
increased due to the lack of employment in the
cities. The differences in social and cultural views
of the vil lager community and the newcomer
Gypsy families, various social conflicts emerged;
the presence of Gypsy families raised issues about
land ownership and competition fbr employment.

Gypsy people have no landed property
and therefore they are engaged in the sale of
cleared-out junk(lomizdk), something that is not
well-appreciated by the local community. These
Cypsy families regularly go to Western countries,
especially to Austria, at the time of annual
clearings ofattics, and then they transport nearly
everything they find (furniture, clothes. electric

2005. Pase:49Vol. 23. No. 2 Fal l



ware, sports ware, garden decoration, etc.) either to
their home settlement. where they sell it at a very
lou, price, or they go to the cify markets to make
some money.

Social networking

All these groups are set into a complex
interconnected network of relations; within the
various status groups in order to ensure the
operation of the small-scale farms and households,
some forms of co-operation have become into
existence based on either reciprocity, redistribution
or market interests. 'Ihese relations resemble sorne
of the fbrmerly existing hierarchies such as
employer-employee or patron-client relationship of
the past.

Policies and mistrust

This local 'society of continuity' is
connected to a strong conservative political
identiry. But in spite of these characteristic
features, the villa-eers do not have a strong sense of
solidarity, as they say. They, in general, mistrust
any authorities.

After the fall of state Socialism. the
majority of the villagers voted for a local
inhabitant to fulfill the position of the mayor both
in | 990 and 1994 (a man from a family of high
prestige, whose ancestors were the owners of a
water mill in the vil lage). However, since 1998 the
mayor had been sonreone who never lived in the
settlement but he worked in the village as the
director of the local primary school.

Similarly, when the vineyards' council
was orsanized in 1994. the first elected leader was
u run i.or orle of the local families with the
highest prestige (see my description of the first
family above), but since 1999, this post is fulf i l led
by a new-comer entrepreneur. who lives in the
outskirts of the vil lage.

Lack of co-operation characterizes not
only the settlement, but also the whole wine-
region, which has a negative impact on wine
sell ing. Civil organizations of viniculture cannot
fulfill their function, because people's everyday
life is basically determined by their political
beliefs. The number of different organizations had
doubled; there are organizations for right-wingers
just as well as for left-wingers. Consequently,
more or less connected to this dichotomy, there is
another opposition between local and non-local
owners of vineyards. Having a vineyard in this
region is not only the outcome of an economically

grounded decision, but it has also become a matter
of social prestige. Thus, most owners of these
vineyards are townspeople. for instance from the
capital of Hungary. Most of the time, these people
have neither social nor cultural connection to the
local sociefy. The lack ofco-operation retards the
developing market for locally'produced wine of
high quality, thus it is quite diff icult to find a
bottle of wine from this micro-region in a
supermarket. Although, few entrepreneurs' bottled
wine can be found in some expensive restaurants.

Conclusion

'Community norms' were more or less
rcsi l ient  unt i l  the middle of  the 20' l '  century in
Hungarian vil lages (cf. Fel and Hofer 1969), but
the radical polit ical and economic changes resulted
in the parallel existence ofthe antagonistic
patterns and life strategies (cf. e.g. the theory of
multi l ineal embourgeoisement by Szeldnyi, 1988).
In addition. in a globalized postmodern era, even
these models of biographies are exceeded.
Pluriactivitd of adjusting to the transformations is
a common wayl mixed elements of peasant-like,
entrepreneurial. worker and/or intellectual
nrentalit ies (cf. e.g. Hann and Sdrkdny 2003). But
even though in post-socialism, cultural flows and
neo-liberal economic ideologies globally
determine the new walk of life. differences are
maintained and shaped by the local norms and
historical roots.

It is difficult to point out what the
consequences ofHungary's EU accession (2004)
will be in this vil lage. Economic conditions are
worse now than before. The vil lagers know almost
nothing about the EU, about their own roles in the
EU, not to mention the possible opportunities they
may have. Altogether, changes in the structure of
the local society. just as well as the improvement
ofthe living standards, are not to be expected.

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