Social engagement and rural newcomers

Abstract

One of the fundamental preconditions for the development of rural areas is the engagement of local citizens. The objective of this paper is to explore the role of social engagement, understood as an important part of civic engagement, in the integration of newcomers in two rural municipalities. By examining two villages with different levels of public activities of social engagement, I observed the role that social engagement can play in integrating newcomers in rural communities. Based on these case studies, conducted in a peripheral Czech region, the findings of this paper underline the importance of public activities of social engagement as one factor preventing fragmentation and alienation within rural communities and in integrating newcomers into existing communities. At the same time, my results also reveal the vanishing rural character of communities with successful approaches to the integration of newcomers.