Transborder Kin-minority as Symbolic Resource in Hungary

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Abstract (may include machine translation)

The paper argues that diaspora engagement policies were designed by the Orbán government in order to strengthen the government’s nationalist image within the homeland constituency. First, I offer an overview of main comparative approaches in the study of diaspora engagement. Then I turn to the Hungarian case. After giving a brief summary of pre-2010 developments, I analyze the Orbán government’s diaspora politics with a special emphasis on non-resident citizenship. The main argument is that the centre-right Orbán government elected into power in 2010 was not motivated by geopolitical or economic aims when it introduced non-resident citizenship and designed a new set of diaspora engagement institutions. By embracing non-resident citizenship the main aim of the Hungarian centre-right party was to strengthen its nationalist image within the country as the radical populist Jobbik party emerged and started to challenge Fidesz from the right. Through the inclusion of transborder and diaspora Hungarians, the Orbán government could claim that it restored the unity of the Hungarian nation and, at least symbolically, undid the border changes of the 1920 Trianon Peace Treaty. The new diaspora policies and institutions including birthright travel programs and language courses were intended to folklorize and diasporize Hungarian expatriates and their descendants in the overseas territories rather than mobilize them. Through these symbolic inclusion efforts, the Hungarian nationalist government wants to claim that it maintains Hungarian ethnocultural heritage in the overseas diasporas as well. Thus, the overseas diaspora has been utilized by the Orbán government as a symbolic resource.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)73-98
Number of pages26
JournalECMI JOURNAL ON ETHNOPOLITICS AND MINORITY ISSUES IN EUROPE
Volume14
Issue number3
StatePublished - 2015

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