Hungary’s current political leaders, most of whom were socialized in the ‘70s and ‘80s during the Communist era, seem fully at ease with the notion that a government can dictate what is taught in schools and universities, as illustrated by the recent removal of gender studies from a list of approved postgraduate programs in accordance with a decree signed by Hungary’s Prime Minister. Similarly, the ruling Fidesz Party appears to have no qualms about the influence it wields over the choice of news items carried by most of Hungary’s print and electronic media. Marius Dragomir, Director of the Central European University’s (CEU) Center for Media, Data and Society, has estimated that “some 90 percent of all media in Hungary is now directly or indirectly controlled by Fidesz”.[...]
As under Communism, ideological conformity – or at least a willingness not to question the core values and assumptions of the ruling regime or the private and public behaviour of key figures in the administration – is both expected and enforced. Sanctions may include withdrawal of state funding, punitive taxation, the imposition of complex and restrictive regulations, loss of employment or public shaming. To date, there has been no need for Fidesz to resort to the cruder, less sophisticated methods favoured by Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, and Turkey’s ruler, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in dealing with their opponents.[...]
CEU’s ‘sins’, in the government’s eyes, are many and grievous. As indicated above, it is largely immune to the forms of pressure and manipulation that have allowed the government to exercise ever greater control over other Hungarian universities. Equally disturbingly, at least for Prime Minister Orbán, CEU is a self-avowedly liberal institution. As noted by the Canadian scholar and former politician, Michael Ignatieff, now CEU’s Rector and President, its mission is “to teach the values of open society: free minds, free politics and free institutions”. This open, pluralist political and intellectual vision is starkly at odds with Orbán’s declared intention of turning Hungary into an “illiberal democracy”. [...]
Perhaps one of CEU’s most important contributions to intellectual life in Hungary has been to host regular public lectures by prominent intellectuals from around the world. In the past year or so, visiting speakers have included the French economic historian Thomas Piketty, the Princeton-based political scientist Jan-Werner Müller, the Canadian historian Margaret MacMillan and the Oxford historian, Timothy Garton Ash. Without the stimulus provided by such widely acclaimed scholars, the quality and vitality of Hungary’s intellectual life, particularly in the humanities and social sciences, will inevitably decline.
No comments:
Post a Comment