Introduction “I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to process what was happening, only by going on living my life and being afraid of gypsies” explained Péter*, who had been bullied and beaten as a child for being an excellent student. So his story goes, Péter didn’t understand why these Roma children… Continue reading “Conversations with Members of the Hungarian Radical Right”
Ideas of Hungarism and the reformation of ‘Greater Hungary’ are now central to Hungary’s radical right, and not just at the fringes… In the Hungarian collective memory, few events evoke as much emotion as the Treaty of Trianon. Referring to the peace treaty signed at the Grand Trianon Palace at Versailles on 4th June 1920,… Continue reading “Grieving Greater Hungary: Trianon, Orbán, and the Hungarian radical right”
Radical right governments are exploiting COVID-19 as an excuse to expand their power. There are few worse culprits than Hungary’s Viktor Orbán. In his televised 9 April Easter message, the Catholic Church’s spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Bucharest, Father Francisc Dobos, said that the disciples of Jesus ‘feared the Jews, and here in the bracket… Continue reading “COVID-19 Could Be A Harbinger Of Authoritarianism”
The Hungarian far right envisages agricultural alternatives to Viktor Orban’s populism. Balint is a 30-year-old PhD student from northern Hungary, with expertise in organic farming and environmentally friendly agriculture. Well educated and fluent in English, Balint talks with passion about his daily work at an organic farm, hiking and spending time in nature. An expert… Continue reading “What Hungary’s Nationalist Farmers Have Against Orban”
The continent’s radical right fringes might be able to end the month with a victory at the ballot box. February 2020 will be a busy month for some of the extreme elements of Europe’s radical right. Multiple events are expected: marches, concerts, an election in Slovakia where a radical right party is second in the… Continue reading “February 2020: a busy month for Europe’s radical right”
From the Inaugural CARR Conference For three days, the Richmond University in London was not only the site of insightful and thought-provoking presentations during the inaugural CARR conference, but also an opportunity to engage in some of the most relevant debates in the field. Its pervasiveness, reinforced in the recent European Parliament elections, allows the… Continue reading “Is the radical right really anti-climate? Some evidence from Hungary”
As I was anxiously finishing my beer and looking around an empty and fusty pub in inner Budapest, the prospects of my fieldwork and research appeared rather gloomy. I, a student from Central European University, an academic institution that was founded by George Soros and is the meta-enemy of the populist government and the wider… Continue reading “A short account on the experience of interviewing the far-right: anticipating ‘that’ moment”
Many scholars and observers have noted that our historical moment is marked by an extraordinary populist nationalist conjuncture (Brubaker 2017). Across European contexts and beyond, radical right parties have obtained double-digit support on a platform protesting European and global integration. Existing scholarship has focused on the supply side of populism, examining its drivers. Scholars have… Continue reading “When the wounded nation strikes back”
The Austrian Habsburg Empire was famous for its motto: ‘not to lead wars but instead, to marry [and to colonize more territories]’; frequently repeated in Latin, bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria, nube! Austrian politicians seem to have recently remembered this strategy for expansion and have decided to stage their weddings in a similar fashion. Of course, everyone… Continue reading “The EU’s Putin Wannabes”
Gender studies challenge existing structures that are perceived as natural and enduring, and in doing so, they directly challenge the ideological commitments of the radical right. In August, an announcement was made by the Hungarian Prime Minister’s office that gender studies courses, as of September 2019, would not be funded or recognised by the government.… Continue reading “Gender (studies) trouble in Hungary”
