Nation Concept of the American Hungarian Emigration, with Special Regard to the Situation of Hungarians Living in Romania

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The lecture focuses on the nation concept of American Hungarian Diaspora organizations and its leaders who advocated human rights of Hungarians living in Romania in the U.S. during the Cold War, taking into consideration both their relationship to the motherland and their position on Hungarian minorities living beyond the borders of Hungary. Each of the organization and movement established by the different waves of immigration in different periods represented a special community culture and mentality, mostly competing with each other, based on imported values from the motherland, and as a consequence, all of them developed their own special nation concept regarding Hungary, its neighboring countries and their Hungarian minorities. This left a strong mark on their chosen advocacy objectives, lobbying instruments, quality of their networks and of their relationship with the prevailing Hungarian Government. The advocacy activities of four different diaspora organizations will be analyzed along the factors mentioned above: namely the points of view and main features of the American Hungarian Federation, American Transylvanian Association, the Transylvanian World Federation and the Hungarian Human Rights Foundation.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Gabriella Hermann owns master’s degrees in International Relations (from Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary) and in Ethnography (from Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary). Being a PhD candidate at Corvinus University of Budapest’s International Relations Multidisciplinary Doctoral School, she has specialized on ethnic advocacy activities of Hungarian Diaspora organizations in the U.S. for Hungarian minorities living in Romania during the Cold War, which led her to apply for a Fulbright scholarship at Rutgers University, New Brunswick (NJ), where she spends her research stay in 2019.