Contemporary Hungarian Society

This book looks at the problems connected with the modernization of a Central European state and its development from a feudal to a civil society. Using the history of Hungary over the last 150 years as a model, the author sheds light on political, social and economic trends in the region as a whole.

Illuminates the problems connected with Hungary's transition to a civil society while providing insights into the development of political culture and the rise of civil and national consequences.

This book examines social change in Hungary, commencing with the period of late-stage socialism, the country's immediate post-communist transition, its subsequent consolidation and the emergence of authoritarian leadership since 2010. The volume seeks to employ a longitudinal and comparative perspective and provides comparison to other central and east European states that emerged from state socialism. The Hungarian regime change of 1989-1990 led to previously unimaginable social and economic transition. In recent decades, regime change and socio-economic transition in Central and Eastern Europe has produced a library of literature, and transition studies has periodically become a discipline in its own right. The author uses an interdisciplinary approach - drawing from social history, sociology, statistics and contemporary history - in order to understand and analyse social change in all its complexity. The book will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students, social scientists, historians, experts and those interested in Hungarian and Central and Eastern European history and social change.

This text discusses the prevailing demographic phenomena in Hungary since the 1970s, offering forecasts up to the year 2050. It analyzes recent tendencies in the conclusion of marriages, human fertility, the effects of economic and financial changes on demography, the health situation and epidemiological crisis in Hungary, the effects of international migrations, the longitudinal analysis of teenage pregnancies, and the relationship between population structures and demographic dynamics.

This book presents compelling essays by leading Hungarian and foreign authors on the variety of social movements and parties that seek influence and power in a Hungary mired in deep and manifold crisis. The main question the volume tries to answer is: what can we expect after the fall of the semi-authoritarian Orbán regime in Hungary. Who will be the new players? What are their backgrounds? What are their political and social ideals, intentions and methods? The studies in the first section of the volume provide the reader with the reasons of the emergence of these new movements: a deep analysis of the historical, political and cultural background of the current situation. The second part contains essays and case studies which challenge the movements and parties involved to look beyond their current ineffectiveness, and to find ways of meeting the challenges that would allow them to exercise responsible and effective leadership in their time and place. This collection would be the first of the kind both in the field of movement theory/history and democracy studies because it reflects on very recent developments not researched in the international scholarly literature. One would not be able to understand contemporary Hungarian society without reading it before the 2014 elections.

The volume presents the changing situation of the Roma in the second half of the 20th century and examines the politics of the Hungarian state regarding minorities by analyzing legal regulations, policy documents, archival sources and sociological surveys. In the first phase analyzed (1945-61), the authors show the efforts of forced assimilation by the communist state. The second phase (1961-89) began with the party resolution denying nationality status to the Roma. Gypsy culture was equivalent with culture of poverty that must be eliminated. Forced assimilation through labor activities continued. The Roma adapted to new conditions and yet kept their distinct identity. From the 1970s, Roma intellectuals began an emancipatory movement, and its legacy is felt until this day. Although the third phase (1989-2010) brought about freedoms and rights for the Roma, with large sums spent on various Roma-related programs, the situation on the ground nevertheless did not improve. Segregation and marginalization continues, and it is rampant. The authors powerfully conclude: while Roma became part of the political community, they are still not part of the national one. Subjects: Romanies—Hungary. Romanies—Hungary—Social conditions. Marginality, Social—Hungary. Romanies—Legal status, laws, etc.—Hungary. Minorities—Government policy—Hungary. Hungary—Ethnic relations. Hungary—Social policy.