Intersections. East European Journal of Society and Politics

Flexibility without security

2023-10-01T23:34:46+02:00

The paper aims to summarise the role of social integration in the labour market processes of the 2010s in Hungary. We have left behind a key decade when employment growth reached unprecedented proportions. However, this unprecedented growth had serious social costs, as those excluded from the labour market during the break-up of the welfare state were left without social protection, and because the financial situation of those entering the labour market improved in absolute terms. Still, their relative deprivation did not change or worsened, and in the meanwhile their ability to enforce their interests has been significantly reduced. That is, today’s Hungarian government wants to integrate the members of society into the labour market. To this end, it provides increasingly weak protection for those who, due to old age, long-term illness or unemployment, are forced to stay out of the labour market. Disintegration affects those with the fewest resources, the least capable of conflict and those unable to articulate their problems in public most: these are women, young people and older workers who are ‘traditionally’ in a worse position in the labour market, in addition to those who are forced out of the labour market. The question is whether the current social model or the situation of those who disintegrated from the labour market will continue to deteriorate after the economic slowdown.

Political integration mechanisms in Hungary (2010–2022)

2023-05-21T17:29:13+02:00

Since 2010, Fidesz has won four electoral victories in Hungary with a constitutional majority. In this paper, we argue that the main reason behind this overwhelming electoral success is the specific pattern of political integration that has evolved in recent years. The Hungarian case, as a consequence, may also act as a basis for a theoretical step forward in understanding the role of political integration in de-democratization processes. To understand the role of political integration, we explain how the Habermas-based political integration framework relates to the types of political culture, and then, with the help of representative data collection from 2018 and 2021, we define the integration groups and, using these, examine the party preferences and participation patterns that have developed in today’s Hungary. The Orbán regime successfully generates diffuse mass support: this is embedded in multiple social groups, although none of the integration groups can be considered the sole or primary supporters of the system.

Social structure and integration

2023-10-17T15:20:18+02:00

The topic of the paper is the relationship between social stratification based on occupational classes and the mechanisms of social integration, which was analysed on quantitative data collected in 2015, 2018 and 2021. We sought answers to how we can better understand the interaction of social and integration positions, as well as the functioning of complex integration mechanisms. In the examined six years, a definite homogenization took place in the integration indicators of the occupational groups: this means that indicators measured of occupational group in some integration dimensions took on closer values. It is also part of our research results that there is an interpretable correlation between the hierarchy of occupational groups and the examined integration mechanisms: political participation, number of weak ties, subjective social exclusion and acceptance of norm violation. The upper strata of the occupational class model (mostly entrepreneurs, managers, professionals and other white-collar workers) have consistently reported higher numbers of weak ties, lower sense of exclusion and higher political participation. We also found consistent, yet opposite results in the lower strata, mostly among the unemployed and those with unskilled and semi-skilled work linked to lower qualifications. The strengthening of homogenization and the impact of the hierarchy of occupational groups are simultaneous integrational characteristics of Hungarian society. The future research question is whether homogenization rearranges the integration effect of the occupational hierarchy.

Remaking civil society under authoritarian capitalism

2023-10-01T23:27:05+02:00

Authoritarian regimes are known for their attacks on civic organizations; however, this article demonstrates how such rules also set up and operate new forms of civil society. Drawing on a year-long ethnographic fieldwork at the cultural flagship institution of the Orbán-regime, the Hungarian Academy of Arts (HAA), this research engages with civic organizations often labeled as ‘uncivil,’ ‘dark,’ or ‘illiberal.’ Instead of applying the normative notion of civil society, it joins a century-long body of literature that, following Gramsci, stresses the integral nature of political and civil society. The article contributes to this research trajectory by spotlighting a new hegemonic regime’s dynamic remaking of civil society.

The article conceptualizes the process of remaking civil society and reveals four facets beyond top-down command (1) the making of clientelist social relations that affect both the privileged and the rank-and-file actors, (2) the managed articulation of dissent toward the regime that pacifies discontent (3) the relative autonomy of regime-allied civic organizations and (4) the orchestration of pre-existing bottom-up initiatives. By coining the concept of recivilization, this article contributes to understanding how emerging regimes remake civil society and mobilize voluntary social practices to maintain their rule. Through this understanding, this article highlights that authoritarianism is more than top-down ruling and suggests the novel notion of recivilization as a concept to capture the pro-systemic role of civil society.

Whose integration?

2023-06-22T16:24:35+02:00

Lingering spatial disparities within the EU have often been explained by macro-level structural trends. However, studies have also spelt out the role of local agency in organising social integration processes through local institutional arrangements. The agency of socially skilled local actors is acquired by recombining various resources and denotes their capacity to (re)negotiate the web of local relations and membership in the community through the distribution of developmental goods and controlling access to services. Informed by theories of development as institutional change and strategic action field theory, our paper analyses the evolution and action of this local project class in organising social order by acting as brokers between the institutional environment and local institutional arrangements. Our research question hinges upon the process through which the project class (re)combines resources in order to maintain local social order based on their own perceptions and visions of the locality. Empirical evidence was gathered through various qualitative research projects over two decades, supplemented by recent follow-up interviews with the same actors in a small peripheral town in northern Hungary. Our extended research indicates that maintaining local social order derives from the local elite’s perceptions of spatial injustice, which means maintaining pre-existing social and class positions. This is a highly selective process and reflects degrees of vulnerability within the local community.

Social capital and trust: the ‘fuel’ of local integration of small rural enterprises

2023-05-31T10:15:35+02:00

In the present article we examine a sub-segment of the locally integrated social group: rural small entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are especially interesting from the integration point of view since in the current academic discourse, entrepreneurship is considered as a contextual process, in which entrepreneurs depend on local information and resources, and base their activities on the needs of the local environment, therefore, rural entrepreneurs are commonly studied through the concepts of local embeddedness, social capital and trust. The aim of our paper is to contribute to the understanding of the those mechanisms: the impact of trust among entrepreneurs and their social networks resulting the local integration of this rural group. The study based on 25 semi-structured in-depth interviews, focuses on the role of values, attitudes, social capital and trust networks in local economic success in three Hungarian settlements of different size: a small village of 300, a small town of 3,000 and a medium-sized town of 30,000 inhabitants. Our conclusion is that in case of rural small entrepreneurship, community resources (values, attitudes, social capital and trust) are of chief role in the foundation and existence of a local entrepreneurial ecosystem, however, their efforts have to be accompanied by an institutional framework to make them sustainable in the long term.

Local food as resistance

2023-04-20T11:43:37+02:00

The weak civil society thesis in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has been central to scholarly debates interpreting civil society from a Western lens. Touching upon the issue of food sovereignty, we contest this conceptualisation by revealing the wider networks and strength of food-related local practices in Hungary after the 1990s. In doing so, we rely on a qualitative study conducted between 2020-2021, based on 25 semi-structured ‘oral herstory’ interviews with women who have been actively dealing with food sovereignty issues. With the above study, we had three main objectives. First, to counter the widespread (mis)perception of local food production as a mere necessity in CEE. Second, we highlight the importance of rural local food production, to counter the understanding of home gardening as a practice without resistance. Thirdly, we wish to voice the experiences of women in the movement in their larger structural and historical settings. Our findings concentrate on two key areas: the movement's experience with recurrent crises and political-economic conditions from the 1990s onwards, and the subjective assessment of shifting hierarchical dynamics within the movement milieu. The paper's main goal is to illuminate women's experiences and positionality within the global food system from a Hungarian viewpoint.

Victims’ perspectives towards sexual harassment prevention measures at work

2023-08-23T16:27:29+02:00

This mixed-method study revolves around female victims’ perspectives and voices concerning sexual harassment prevention measures in their workplaces. Two hundred and eighty-nine participants responded to questionnaires, in-depth questions, and interviews (with 20 interviewees). Data were collected from various professionals who had experienced sexual misconduct at work. The research objectives were to investigate victims’ perspectives of sexual harassment prevention and the effectiveness of related measures, to examine the impact of sexual harassment measures on work-related motivation, and to explore female employees’ voices concerning reforms involving the implementation of sexual harassment prevention measures. The quantitative results reveal that the victims did not highly evaluate the effectiveness of sexual harassment prevention measures implemented at their workplaces. Also, the measures negatively impacted employees’ work-related motivation. Qualitative data indicated that the victims strongly recommended positive changes in sexual harassment awareness education, sexual harassment laws, and women's protection policies to create an anti-sexual harassment working environment.

Examining the characteristics of Roma–non-Roma interethnic romantic relationships using decision tree analysis

2023-07-26T14:17:46+02:00

Interethnic romantic relationships can be perceived as indicators of integration, but they can also be facilitators of successful social integration. This is why we considered it important to study Roma people who had already had a non-Roma partner. We were looking for answers to the question of what is characteristic of these people compared to those who have only been in a romantic relationship or marriage with a Roma partner throughout their lives. In our study, we investigated the correlations using a Khi² test and decision tree analysis on a sample of 535 Roma people in Hungary. Among the sociodemographic characteristics, gender, marital status, actual relationship status, educational attainment, belonging to a Roma community (Romungro, Olah, Boyash), occupation and settlement type were significantly associated with whether Roma respondents had ever had a non-Roma partner. Roma people with less than eight years of primary education had the most homogeneous partner choice habits. Roma people with more than eight years of education, unmarried, cohabiting with their partner or not living with their partner had had non-Roma partners in the highest proportion. As educational attainment increases, it can be assumed that more and more Roma-non-Roma romantic relationships and marriages will be formed in Hungary.

Book Review

2023-06-22T02:45:49+02:00

Book Review

2023-11-16T15:21:39+01:00

This book is a unique ethnographic project that reveals the hidden trajectories between memory politics and populism in Southeastern Europe through eleven case studies. The authors are putting architectural designs, memorials, and commemorations under the magnifying glass and uncovering the forgotten heroes or historic events to find untold stories and understand how memories are being fabricated, reinterpreted, and redeemed from the oblivion or pulled out of the original context to tailor-make populist narratives which are always serving political actors to pursue their goals and ambitions. The case studies show how the same historic events, personalities, and (non)places can be interpreted in different ways depending on the ethnic-nationalist codes used to (re)produce identities and imagined communities which leads to the strengthening of enmities. The authors explain how war heroes and ideological categories merely represent empty signifiers in their quest to debunk myths that underly the official government policies as well as conspiracy theories that persistently undermine the projects of reconciliation in the region.

Editorial

2024-02-27T10:08:26+01:00