The study written by Kriszta Kovács shows how the freedom of science became an internationally recognized right in the mid-twentieth century. She discusses the universal and regional international legal documents to which Hungary has acceded, that is, which it has recognized as binding on itself.
The article written by Balázs Majtényi and Andrew Ryder provides insights into the limitation of academic freedom, the nature of higher education reform in Hungary and the corresponding dissent. It describes how the Hungarian government has managed to restrict academic freedom, mainly through legislation, financial pressure and state-sponsored media attacks. Hungary after 2010 provides an important case study for what can happen to academic freedom under an authoritarian regime and the nature and scope of dissent. It is important to explore forms of dissent, because in doing so, we create reference points for the future, and it could strengthen the capacity of democratic resilience in a society.
Eszter Kirs's paper presents the Hungarian version of a comparative study that demonstrates how underground communities in communist and youth protest movements in electoral autocratic Hungary nurtured the spirit of political freedom while building an apolitical identity, refraining from mobilizing for regime change. Free action in autonomous spaces of appearance related to the following movements was explored: (1) the Balatonboglár Chapel Studio (1970-73), (2) the Monday Free University (1978-85), (3) the Student Network (2011- 13), and (4) the FreeSZFE protest movements (2020). Parallel phenomena were found regarding their goals and operation, governmental attacks, and resilience strategies. Findings are based on desk research focused on case studies and civil society-related concepts of Eastern European theorists, as well as on qualitative, semi-structured interviews with key members of the above movements and experts.
Jan-Werner Müller contextualizes current illiberal attacks on academic freedom that show a process of illiberal learning of transferable tools using autocratic legalism and, where needed, ostensibly illegal measures. He argues that this is part of a larger campaign against autonomous structures and critical culture as breeding grounds for possible resistance.
Zsolt Enyedi places the Hungarian story in an international context of attacks on the academic sphere, linking this to the diverse meanings of illiberalism and to the tools the Orbán regime used to crack down on academic freedom, and how it failed to create a meaningful and sustainable institutional system with its own loyal intelligentsia.
Zsolt Körtvélyesi discusses the case of the doctoral defense of a high-level politician in the Orbán regime and argues that existing university rules for the procedure would have allowed for a more demanding standard based on constitutional democratic values underpinning the very functioning of the academic sphere and the university.
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Zoltán Ádám gives a first-person account of his struggle with an institutional framework that facilitated sanctioning the whistle-blower instead of those responsible for ethical violations. His story shows how the institutional structure that should serve the goal of fair examination for all students was turned upside down in the case of a student related to a powerful business figure involved in the management of the university under the new quasi-privatized structure, and how the new setup allowed the sanctioning of the professor who tried to stand up against this blatant violation.
László Upor provides a subjective overview of the fighting of the University of Theater and Film Arts against government encroachment of its autonomy, arguing that while it was ultimately unsuccessful in that the political takeover was completed, this should be seen as a valid experiment, imbued with performativity. The story of resistance offers unique lessons for more democratic future.
Gábor Mészáros provides an account of the transitioning of the University of Pécs to the foundation-based model and of the related internal struggles. He concludes that the promised benefits did not materialize and that the story demonstrates the weakness of the forces that could have resisted the processes that led to university bodies to vote in favor of curtailing its own autonomy.
Judit Csanádi gives an internal view of the struggles for academic freedom at the University of Fine Arts, with a succinct overview of contextual elements that defined the process. ■
Visszaugrás
