In the Name of the Family: The Populist Turn against Gender in Hungary

Research output: Contribution to Book/Report typesChapter

Abstract (may include machine translation)

Although Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán had declared that he does not deal with ‘women issues’, he just put women in the center of his government program after his 2018 electoral victory. In exchange for extra government funds, a preferential credit and a life-long tax exemption, Orbán wants women to bear enough children to ensure the hegemony of the Carpathian basin, to avoid economic decline, and to prevent the Islamization of Europe. This chapter examines how the discursive construction of the supremacy of the nation and national interest not only favors the adoption of majoritarian rules at the expense of minorities but also influences gendered norms and practices in politics and society. Nativist conceptions, conservative preferences for traditional values, religious moralism and ethnicized nationalism all point towards silencing women, denying them equal rights or opportunities. The populist rejection of liberal democracy thus creates a political discourse of social and religious conservatism of the 19th century that on turn leads to state-sponsored anti-feminism.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationCurrent Populism in Europe: Gender-Backlash and Counter-strategies
EditorsMartin Mejstřík, Vladimír Handl
PublisherHeinrich-Böll-Stiftung
Pages37-52
Number of pages16
ISBN (Electronic)9788088289265
ISBN (Print)9788088289258
StatePublished - 2021

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