Sustaining a Village's Social Fabric?

• Published in: Sociologia ruralis Vol. 52; no. 3; pp. 332 - 352
• Main Author: Huijbens, Edward H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.07.2012; Blackwell
• Subjects: Audience; Audiences; Cultural Capital; Expatriates; Family; Friendship; Home; Home ownership; homeowners; Housing; Iceland; Leisure; Life styles; Lifestyle; Rural and urban sociology; Rural areas; Rural communities; Rural sociology; Social capital; Social integration. Social relations. Social participation; Social organization. Social system. Social structure; Sociology; Towns; Villages; Iceland; Social link; Village; Rural Community; Social capital
• ISSN: 0038-0199; 1467-9523
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9523.2012.00565.x

This article deals with the rural community of Fjallabyggð in North Iceland and second home inhabitants of the constituent villages of Siglufjörður and Ólafsfjörður. Up to a quarter of the housing in these villages is owned by people with their registered residence elsewhere. The article asks whether and how the owners of these houses contribute to the maintenance of the villages' social fabric, building on the notion of social capital, in any formal or informal sense. The article finds that there are two types of second home owners. One the homesick local maintaining ties with family and friends and the other of those pursuing a lifestyle of creative leisure. The latter are actively involved in community projects, whilst the former are passive audience to these. Thus the article concludes by finding that community expats maintain a village's social fabric for mostly selfish reasons and to a limited extent, whilst those seeking a place away from home will be more active in maintaining it.