Postmodern Values in Rural Peripheries

Some new values and trends based on strengthened needs for nature, culture and safety have emerged and offer favourable opportunities for the less developed rural areas. The environmental and social aspects of economies are getting to have more power as well as the information society provides assets to break off the distances and these processes lead to change the term of underdevelopment especially in rural peripheries. While the rural spaces have resources necessary to start a new way of development, they are in a dual cultural snare. On one hand, rural policy forces to follow one kind of modernization, most of the rural areas do not have resources for that. On the other hand, local societies are not ready to follow a post-modern way. Post-modern values are imported by migrants and this is accompanied by important conflicts. The main question of our research is how the pure nature, the sustainability, the cultural heritage and social participation as some of the basic values for post-modern type development are present in rural spaces. According to our hypothesis the relation of local society to post-modern values depends on economic development, the size of community and their links to the outside of the region. We have started an empirical research project in 8 groups of villages (6 in Hungary, 2 in Transylvania) in order to verify the hypothesis. About 420 local residents have been asked about their values and preferences. The paper shows some of the results of these surveys.