1.2 - szabó, máté - new factors in the political socialization of youth in hungary. the...

7/30/2019 1.2 - Szab, Mt - New Factors in the Political Socialization of Youth in Hungary. The Alternative Social Movement

1/9

The following ad supports maintaining our C.E.E.O.L. service

New Factors in the Political Socialization of Youth in Hungary: TheAlternative Social Movements and Subcultures

New Factors in the Political Socialization of Youth in Hungary: The Alternative SocialMovements and Subcultures

by Mt Szab

Source:

PRAXIS International (PRAXIS International), issue: 1 / 1988, pages: 26-33, on www.ceeol.com.
http://www.ceeol.com/http://www.ceeol.com/http://www.dibido.eu/bookdetails.aspx?bookID=9e4d6499-94a7-47c0-b6d3-48244233281fhttp://www.ceeol.com/


2/9

by Mate Szab6We have to reckon with some new features of recent Hungarian politicallife. A new type of citizen activity is emerging which can be compared withthe new social movements in western countries. 1 The social base of socialmovements is constituted mainly by young people, especially students .. Therenow exists a network of new social movements in Hungary, with somethousand people involved in it. Admittedly the political importance and socialsignificance of these movements is much less conspicuous than in the West,where the new social movements (especially those in West Germany) play asignificant role. 2 Nonetheless, because mostly young people, especiallystudents and young intellectuals, are active in these movements, they havesome importance for the political socialization of young intellectuals who willsomeday be in part integrated into societies' power elite.Here I will try to analyze the role of these new movements in the politicalsocialization of young people in Hungary. First, I will put forward a briefgeneral thesis about the role of social movements and sub-cultures in thepolitical socialization of youth. Second, I will describe these new movementsin Hungary, and I will attempt to analyse them by comparing them to thealternative movements in the western countries. My r ~ p o r t is based onresearch and discussions which took place in the Research Group on PoliticalSocialization of the Institute of Social Sciences in Budapest.Both in eastern and western countries in the seventies and the eighties, newfeatures emerged in the political socialization of young people: the so-calledalternative movements, or new social movements. These movements havebecome an integral part of the political "universe" of youth in every modern,complex, more or less pluralistic society.3What then are the common characteristics and functions of subcultures andsocial movements in the political socialization of youth? I would like tosummarize the role of subcultures and social movements in the political

socialization of youth around three general points. Subcultures and socialmovements play the following roles:1. They establish new political communities and identities.The social movements and subcultures of youth constitute a politicalcommunity, integrate young people alienated from conventional-institutionalpolitics. They strengthen the identification of youth with this alternative

Praxis International 8:1April 1988 0260-8448 $2.00


3/9

Praxis International 27political community.2. They create new political values and nonns, rituals, and institutions.The political rituals, the symbolic, normative and institutional structures ofalternative subcultures and social movements are in contradiction, andsometimes in conflict with existing, conventional institutions, rituals andnorms. Sometimes these contradictions and conflicts lead to the emergency ofnew values and political norms in the political community at large, on localand national levels, and this generates change in the political system and thepolitical culture.3. They organize political behaviour in non-conventional formsThe main characteristic of subcultures and movements is the appearance ofnon-conventional political behaviour. Sometimes this manifests itself in apassive form, non-activity in the subcultures. In contrast the politicalbehaviour of youth participating in social movements manifests itself in activeforms. Non-conventional behaviour is thus different in subcultures than inmovements, but the common feature of both is the fact that they bothchallenge conventional politics and established political institutions.

These three general characteristics lead us to a general thesis: subculturesand social movements play a role in political innovation in the political systemand political culture.4 The new identities, political values, political norms andnon-conventional political behaviour of youth pose a challenge to the existing,institutionalized political systems and political culture. There is a conflictbetween the "old" and the "new" politics, which in the long run could resultin the transformation of both. Conventional institutionalized politics integrates some new, alternative groups, leaders, ideas, norms, goals from socialmovements and subcultures, and these become institutionalized therebylosing their original identity and character as subcultures and socialmovements.

If we compare the new social movements and subcultures of youth inHungary with the western ones, especially with those of West Germany, wefind some characteristic differences between different types ofmovements andpolicies in the various realms of political conflicts. In order to arrive at ageneral thesis on the role of these new features in the political socialization ofyouth in Hungary and in the development of the Hungarian political systemand political culture, I will describe and compare four types of newmovements and subcultures in Hungary.1. The ecological movement has three major trends in the West: theantinuclear movement, the citizens' initiatives and the alternative life-stylemovement. There is no antinuclear movement in Hungary. Instead, thecentral ecological issue is the protest against the construction of a huge waterplant on the Danube. This protest movement is called the Autonomous DanubeCircle, or the Blues. This type of initiative is a so-called "transitory team" adefinition developed by American sociologists.s This type ofmovement has a"hard core" made up of leaders and activists who are fully committed to itsissues, and most of their time is devoted to the organization. They developmass support through financial donations, referenda, etc. and they try to use

AccessviaCEEOL NL Germany


4/9

28 Praxis Internationalthis mass support order to influence public opinion and politics. Thisof single issue organization has a broad social base loosely connected"cause", and it does not participate directly in the political protest activitiesthemselves or in the organization. On the international level, the organization"Greenpeace" is an example of this type of social movement. On onewe find full-time political activists, on the other hand, a wide circle ofmarginal supporters.The "transitory team" is transitory because it seeks to resolve short-termproblems. Citizens' movements are similarly short-term and single-issueoriented, but they have different organizational structure. The citizens'initiatives organize their members for direct participation in political proteston a community basis. They do not have an organizational hard-core on thenational level made up of full-time workers and activists.We can find some citizens' initiatives6 concerned with ecological issues inHungary. They are single-issue movements, based local conflicts, and theiractivists are supported by the local political community. Perhaps mostsignificantly conflicts about the location of industrial-technological projectsgave rise to local protest movements of this variety. These conflicts mobilizedactive political protest in the local community, thus they are different from theAutonomous Danube Circle, a transistory team on the national level.The common characteristics of citizens' initiatives in Hungary are their lackof (1) a common ideological platform and (2) central organization andleadership. The initiatives are isolated from each other; there were no crucialenvironmental conflicts which could have unified the initiatives on a nationalbasis.The alternative life-style movement is also present in Hungary. There is ayoga-movement with some agricultural communities in the country. We canalso count among the alternative life-style movements religious communitiesamong youth especially those based on Asian religious and philosophical.ideas. Mention has to be made of the bio-gardening and reform-nutritionmovements the "naturists" (who came into conflict with the state, and wererecognized later as an official association of the naked sun-bathers), themovement for a more beautiful city, and various other youth environmentalistgroups. The subcultures and movements in Hungary are primarily supportedby youth, especially by students.The alternative life-style movement has its organizational and ideologicalcentre in the Interdisciplinary Students' Circle, located in Budapest. The Circle

has a loosely organized network in the country. The Circle advocates a utopiaon the foundation of a "City of Communards" which is to follow analternative, communitarian, ecological life-style. The community hasdifferent local projects, a network of information and mobilization, a monthlyperiodical, and a weekly discussion club about different communities, trendsand issues of concern to the alternative life-style movement.The alternative life-style movement is a very cheerful, pluralistic feature ofHungarian society, but it has a very limited social basis. In an intolerant andrigid society, our experimental attempts to live "differently" are very hard torealize. This, compared with the western movements, makes the alternative


5/9

Praxis International 29subcultures Hungary more self-centered andapolitical western counterparts. As a result, Hungary's alternativemovements assume organizational forms that are very similar to the rituals ofsuppressed radical religious sects.

Owing to these sporadic, conflict-ridden and non-conventional politicalactivities, an environmental sensibility has emerged in Hungary, especiallyamong the young. Simultaneously, however, there are some new features inHungary's environmental policy. In its propaganda and public opinion work,the Environmental Protection Agency has began to integrate some communityactivities, and this is a potential source for political innovation in environmental policy. There is indeed a new political style and ritual emerging inenvironmental policy. Bargaining, and other forms of conflict resolution andpolitical protest, are becoming legitimate. The importance of these conflicts isbecoming clear to the wider public. These trends are partly to be attributed tothe movements.

The political socialization of young people plays a central role in thisprocess. As western experiences show, the ecological consciousness of youth,and especially of students involved in these movements is growing significantly. The participants in environmental movements and alternative subcultures come to see the importance of environmental issues of an early juncturein their political socialization. This leads me to the conclusion that environmental and ecological issues will grow in importance in Hungarian politicswhen today's youngsters participating in the ecological movements enter thepolitical arena. The environmental issue is influencing not only those activelyparticipating it but a whole generation of today's students who will becomethe intelligentsia of tomorrow.2. Just as the western peace movement gained in strength between 1982-3, anew peace movement emerged in Hungary.7 The so called Dialogue Groupestablished networl{s and produced a group of activists who later appeared inother movements and subcultures as organizers. The disintegration of theDialogue Group because of administrative and political pressure and obstaclesplaced upon its activities shows that the tolerance of the Hungarian politicalsystem is more limited in the field of peace than in environmentalissues.Some new forms of political protest activity were tolerated in both cases;others were hampered and even suppressed. The selectivity of the politicalsystem tolerating new forms of political protest is clearly much narrowerthan in the West. For example, attempts to organize public demonstrationswere outlawed, but the collection of subscriptions, the printing of periodicalsand their non-official circulation were allowed. The strategies of bothmovements were much less oriented towards protest and conflict than in theWest. This stems from the difference between East and West in the degree oflegitimate pluralism and in the nature of conflict-resolution.3. No successful attempts have been made to establish a new feminist oralternative Third World solidarity movement. In regard to these issues, thereare no social and political sensibilities in Hungary, and these issues can notmobilize social movements in our society. Both fields are dominated by


6/9

30 Praxisofficial policy, there is no room autonomous social initiative. Theseissues, of great concern among western movements, are not taken seriouslyby Hungarian activists. There exist some semi-governmental organizationsaddressing themselves to these issues the aim of mobilizing masssupport, but their activities are rather formal, any genuine social andpolitical effect.4. There are some characteristic differences between Hungarian and westernyouth, and especially between student subcultures. in the West andHungary student social and political activities are determined by the trans-formation of society's value system and by general lengthening of theperiod of education. Ronald Inglehart8 has called this challenge the "silentrevolution" of "post-materialism." these common tendencies havedifferent colors. In Hungary, post-materialism exerts its influence only amongintellectuals, and it is mostly confined to the level of consciousness, and notrealized practical activities in social and political realms. At the age of 25,upon receiving a university degree, it is hardly possible for a Hungarianintellectual to devote his or her energies to movement work, since in a socialist"economy of scarcity" one has to work hard and long hours to get a home andthe other good things of life. The "society of work" ("Arbeitsgesellschaft") isnot on the decline in socialist countries, and neither do we find any signs of alarge-scale "welfare policy." This means, for example that in contrast to WestGermany, there are no unemployed intellectuals with a solid materialbackground on a mass level who can become the driving force behind newsubcultures and movements. Most of the young intellectuals Hungary areemployed, and they have to work hard and long hours. As a result, the socialbias of the new social movements in Hungary is primarily made up ofstudents, and participation in these movements heavily declines upon gradu-ation.This characteristic generally holds for new movements and subcultures inHungary. This situation, which is conditioned by the socio-economic struc-ture, differs very much from the movements of the western countries ,especially from those in West Germany. In Germany we can find a morecomprehensive social coalition of the post-materialists including older peopleas well as non-intellectual professions.9 The dominating role of students in thenew social movements in Hungary can be compared only to the socialmovements in the western countries in the sixties, when student movementswere based in universities and colleges.

The movements and subcultures in Hungary are mainly "social movementsorganizations,"lo especially in higher education: at the universities, instudent hostels and in youth political organizations. Because of the obstaclesto autonomous political activity, social movements try to find some estab-lished "umbrella organization," ensuring protection, resources and possibilities.There is a movement which demands the self-government of student hostelsHungary. The inhabitants of student hostels are trying not only to control

student governments, but they also discuss broader and general political andsocial problems and goals, the possibilities for economic and political reform,


7/9

Praxis International 31environmental protection, social justice etc. The movement established aninformation network and has regular meetings and conferences.Another network autonomous initiatives and communities within thestructure of higher education is the movement of cultural and the political clubs.These communities students discuss the same general subjects as studenthostel movements. The two networks are highly intertwined. The specialsocial and political concern of university clubs in Hungary is the issue ofnational. identity question of Hungarian minorities abroad. Thisproblem plays an role in Hungarian political culture and thus inthis field the students rely heavily upon other clubs organized at the local orworkplace level.

The problems of student youth club self-government confronts thestudents in officialyouth movement. In Hungary the so-called Alliance of theYoung Communists has supreme authority for the political mobilization ofyouth. Alliance was established after the Hungarian crisis of 1956, withthe function of carrying out education of youth for support of theHungarian Socialist Workers Party. This uniform, highly bureaucratic andalienating political organization is the subject of harsh criticism today. Theorganization is incapable of political education and mobilization. Variousreforms have been suggested. Particularly in the field of higher educationthere is an interesting connection between the Alliance and youth movementsand subcultures recently, a of young cadres have emerged within theAlliance, who are trying to revitalize by relying on the impulses coming fromthe new youth movements. They collaborate with the new movements,supporting them with the financial resources of the Alliance. At the universities and colleges student hotel movements, university clubs and somesections of the Alliance are closely interconnected. This is a possible spring-board for creating a coalition among the various reform-minded strata ofyouth.I will try to put forward two general theses on the role of youth subculturesand social movements the Hungarian political system and in the politicalsocialization of Hungarian youth.

1. The role and the function of the social movements in the political system.Social movements and youth subcultures try to "hide" behind "umbrellaorganizations." This is accounted for by the fact that the political systemhampers autonomous political activies. To gain resources and political space,the autonomous movements try to obtain support from established organizations and institutions. This leads to the intertwining of formal and informalorganizations to increased communication between autonomous andofficial spheres.This problem is connected with the general schizophrenia of the socialmovements in our political system. On the one hand, there are huge,bureaucratic and formal organizations which monopolize the name and role ofa given social movement for themselves. I regard this type of social movementas a pseudo-movement: it is a formal organization which simply seeks to beperceived as a real social movement. On the other hand, the autonomoussocial movements try to develop within umbrella organizations, thereby


8/9

32 Praxis Internationalconcealing their identity as autonomous social and political forces. I regardthis type of social movements as quasi-movements: it is a genuine socialmovement which wants to gain acceptance as part of a formal, bureaucraticorganization.

The existence of pseudo- and quasi-movements l1 is characteristic ofpolitical systems in East European socialist countries. This stems from theextreme monopolization of power and resources by the dominant politicalorganization and from the resultant obstacles to autonomous selforganization. Instead of pseudo- and quasi-movements, a possible third formof political innovation would be the reintegration of autonomous socialmovements into the political system.2. The mechanisms of political innovation and political socialization. Autonomous social movements create new political identities, communities,rituals, values, and non-conventional forms of political behaviour. This posesa challenge to existing, conventional, institutionalized politics. The socialmovements have three "channels" for political innovation within the politicalsystem.a) The first is to transform and change the organizations and institutionsfrom "inside" through rank and file participation and the articulation ofpopular demands. This alternative was called "voice" by Albert O. Hirschmann.b) The second is to transform the political system through challenge andconflict from the "outside", what Hirschmann called "exit." The dichotomybetween "exit" and "voice" is based on a thesis of Hirschmann 12 regardingthe innovative behavior of organizations and nations at time of crisis. Bothalternatives are present in Hungarian politics today, but "voice" seems to bemore accepted and effective than "exit."c) The third possible consequence for political innovation from socialmovements and subcultures is a new form of political socialization. Thepolitical experience of youth coupled with new political issues, conflicts, andvalues have a vast influence on political socialization. In the long run thisprocess will have an influence on the transformation of political culture as awhole; the new generations are the political leaders and elite of the future.Both in eastern and western countries there is a "silent revolution", which isemerging owing to the changing conditions and experience of young peopleand this "silent revolution" is likely to lead to a change in elites andleadership resulting in the general transformation of politics.

NOTES1. Karl-Werner Brand, ed., Neue soziale Bewegungen in Westeuropa und den USA, (Frankfurt amMain/New York, 1985).2. Karl-Werner Brand, D. Biisser, D. Rucht Aujbruch in eine neue Gesellschaft. (Frankfurt/New York,

1983).3. Waiter Hollstein, Die Gegengesellschaft, (Bonn, 1981).

Chrisoph Conti, Abschied vom Bilrgertum. (Hamburge, 1984).


9/9

Praxis International 33Hermann Hartwich ed., Gesellschaft-liche Probleme als Aussto und Folge von Politik, (Opladen, 1983).5. John D. MacCarthy, Mayer N. ZaId The Trent ofSocial Movements in America. (Jonestown, 1973).63.John D. MacCarthy, Mayer N. SaId "Resource Mobilization and Social Movements" in: AmericanJournal ofSociology, Vol. 82, No. 6, (May 1977), 1227.6. Brand, Aufbruch in eine neue Gesellschaft, 85-118.7. Magdolna Bahizs "Rela tions between the Peace Movements in Eastern and Western Europe: TheSpecial Situation in Hungary" in END Papers No. 10. (Summer 1985).

8. Ronald Inglehart The Silent Revolution (Princeton, 1977).9. Claus Offe "New Social Movements, in Social Research. Vol. 52, No. 4, (Winter 1985).

10. Mayer N. ZaId, Michael A. Berger: "Social Movements in Organizations" in American Journal ofSociology, Vol. 83, No. 4, Jan. 1978.11. Martn Kolinsky, William E. Patterson eds., Social and Political Movements in Western Europe,

(London, 1976), 336.12. Albert O. Hirschmann Exit, Voice and Loyalty. Response to Decline in Firms., Organizations and States(Cambridge, Mass. 1970).

1.2 - szabó, máté - new factors in the political socialization of youth in hungary. the...

Documents