Civic and Uncivic Values in Hungary

“Once a leading light of anti-communist liberalism in the late 1980s, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán has since become known, even admired in some quarters, for systematically undoing domestic checks and balances, and for dissension in the EU and NATO, and over Western support for Ukraine. This erudite, readable collection gives insights on contemporary Hungary, and with immediate relevance for understanding political phenomena worldwide. Those who know Hungary and those who do not will both gain a great deal.”

Rick Fawn, Professor of International Studies, University of St Andrews, UK, andauthor of Castle on a Hill: The Visegrad Group, Regionalism, and the Remaking of Europe (2024).

"Sabrina Ramet and László Kürti invited scholars to this book from very different fields of social science to deep-drill into the apparently homogeneous texture of the Hungarian society under Orbán's rule. Their choices proved successful. Human rights and their increasingly deplorable situation are revealed in different dimensions, as Orbán's authoritarian system gradually develops and infiltrates into all segments of society. Systemic controversies are analyzed in high-quality studies, be they from a philosophical, legal, institutional, or political science approach on political developments, gender, religion, minority groups, or even individual history."

Maria Csanádi, Professor Emerita, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary, and principal author of Dynamics of an Authoritarian System: Hungary, 2010-2021 (2022).