Nationalist Passion, Economic Interest, and the Moral Economy of the Hungarian Civic Right: 2002-2010

Expanding on the author’s ongoing research on the Civic Circles Movement, which paved the way for Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz-MPSZ party from the opposition to enduring political rule, this chapter adopts a moral economy framework to better understand the formation of a vibrant right-wing sector of Hungarian civil society. The chapter analyzes the interplay of nationalist passions and economic interests, which motivated the agency of two vocal groups: the Christian national Bildungsbürgertum, or cultural bourgeoisie, and the propertied petit bourgeoisie, the native owners of small and medium-sized businesses. It is demonstrated that the Bildungsbürgertum joined the movement driven by social conservative cultural agendas, and the petit bourgeoisie led by economic interests. Yet, eventually both groups converged on advocating moral economies, namely that of the nation’s social and cultural reproduction, and of national economic production, respectively. In turn, as promoters of moral economies, these activists could simultaneously enhance the legitimacy and the effectivity of the movement’s contentious and noncontentious actions.