Imagined differences quantitative analysis of urban and rural communities and social relationship

Abstract

Abstract Both contemporary rural sociological inquiries and the lay discourses show that the classical rural urban division still exists, and results in visible social practices. In our study we analyse whether the discursive rural urban dichotomy can also be found in the objective and subjective differences between rural and urban spaces, using the representative database of the integrative and disintegrative processes in Hungarian Society OTKA research. Our results show that the representation of space and spatial differences are complex phenomena, which cannot be linked to a typical characteristic of the community or the space. The positive image elements of the rural are fragmented; these are shadowed by social problems typical for the rural and the feeling of social disintegration. Our data do not prove the existence of urban alienation. Key words: urban-rural division, spatial representation, community, social capital