Does Tolerance Kill? The Hungarian Minority in Romania: A Case Study
Does Tolerance Kill? The Hungarian Minority in Romania: A Case Study

Summary/Abstract: The starting point for this research was the disturbingly high rate of suicide among Hungarians in Harghita. The initial impulse was to connect this fact with the minority status of Hungarians in Romania and with the problem of tolerance. However, Romania is internationally recognized as meeting the criteria of tolerance with respect to its ethnic minorities (European Commission reports). So, why do Hungarians in Harghita still have a high rate of suicide despite living in a tolerant society? What other factors might explain this social phenomenon? This puzzle led me to question the efficiency and sufficiency of tolerance in ensuring a functioning, integrated, multiethnic society and to explore minority-majority relations in Harghita more deeply. The theoretical approach is based on Emile Durkheim's empirical studies of suicide.

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