History/Political Science paper by Kovács, Eszter
Hungarian Diaspora Policy Since 1990
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
My paper focuses on the history of Hungarian diaspora policy since the democratic transition of Hungary, and how this policy is being interpreted by the organizational leaders of the Hungarian diaspora communities. I use the term “diaspora” in the sense of emigrant communities; thus, Hungarian minorities in the countries neighboring Hungary do not form a part of the research. The paper submitted constitutes a part of my doctoral dissertation.
After the democratic transition in 1990, the issue of Hungarian minorities in the neighboring countries dominated Hungarian kin-state politics, but diaspora communities received only incoherent, sporadic attention and support from Hungarian governments. On the other hand, educational and cultural relations have been developed on non-governmental platforms, such as the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Balassi Institute, and the Hungarian Scout Association.
The paper discusses the intensified phase of Hungarian diaspora policy after 2010 in more detail. Diaspora policy is interpreted within the wider framework of kin-state policy, as well as in the general domestic political sphere. The institutional, legal, discursive, and practical items of diaspora policy are examined in the paper. Besides the descriptive and analytical approach, I also work with empirical data. I conducted 23 semi-structured interviews with organizational and community leaders of the Hungarian diaspora from all over the world about how they receive, interpret, and evaluate Hungarian diaspora policy. The empirical research provides a new approach for researching diaspora policy, as previous researches only used state-focused, top-down theoretical frameworks.
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Eszter Kovács holds two BA diplomas: in International Studies and in English and American Studies. She graduated from Central European University’s Nationalism Studies MA Program and has another Master degree in International Relations from Corvinus University of Budapest. She is enrolled in the Doctoral Program in Political Theory of Pázmány Péter Catholic University. Her field of research is Hungarian diaspora- and kin-state politics, and the Hungarian diaspora in the US. She currently works as a junior researcher at the Institute for Minority Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary. kovesz87@gmail.com