Hungarian Civil Activists Action in the Making from 2010 onwards

International workshop 14-16 November, 2012 Budapest

I. International/European perspective

Changing the paradigm?

European perspective ahead civil society is inherent in the recent global civil movements They are neither simply movements of dissatisfaction, nor purely oppositional manifestations some of them fundamentally question the ruling cultural-political basis

Instead of a centralized, representational democracy they believe in local participative, or deliberative democracy
Iceland citizen's assembly to discuss Constitutional reform

Many of them questioning the development based on GROWTSH

Sustainability? Degrowth?

They tend to support local structures

Social context in Hungary

The democratic transition has proved to be much more difficult than people were expecting around the time of the great turn Today we already have a clear sense of how fragile our democracy is and how exposed it is to populism, manipulation, nationalism and political extremism.

Social context in Hungary, cont.

Following the change of regime, civil society has gone through considerable development With the exception of some influential NGOs, most civil organizations have assumed a pure service delivery role.
- This process was inspired by the state and development agencies, - They made NGOs leave behind the real civil functions they had fulfilled around the changes.

Social context in Hungary, cont.

The real civil functions they had fulfilled around the changes: critical reflection demonstrating alternatives building new institutions in local communities and society influencing and taking part in decision-making and control processes In other words: counterbalancing power through independent and free actions organized from below

It seems that today we are witnessing a revival of these functions in Hungary, and civil society appears to have engaged in a battle against the overweight (2/3 majority) political power.

Social context in Hungary, cont.

Democracy has been hacked said one of the persons we interviewed for the Hungarian part of a research study which aims to look at the interconnections of civic movements and events in Bosnia, Hungary, Romania and Russia.

Social context in Hungary, cont.

In April 2010, a national conservative government won a two-thirds majority in Hungary, after a populist election campaign As a result of its majority, the new government has extensively changed legislation and eliminated many of the checks and balances established in Hungarys transition to democracy.

Main theories of democracy

Social context in Hungary, cont.

Those committed to democracy are deeply concerned about the current governments efforts

to centralise decision-making to strengthen the power of the state to weaken free media and human, political and social rights The contemporary discourse is characterised by recourse to nationalism, populism and Hungarys past

Resistance to this governments approach is growing, but it is very difficult for ordinary people to differentiate between reality and manipulation as a result of the lack of long-term democratic tradition and peoples desire for security and safety

This clearly shows how fragile Hungarys new democracy remains, and the extent to which there is a danger of regression

All of these have not gone unnoticed by citizens

II. Civil events, movements in Hungary 2011-12

INITIATIVES Milla movement: One Million People for the Free Media
Some promising initiatives are encouraging that aim: A, Fostering/strengthening civil society and the cooperation among civil society organizations -Milla movement: One Million People for the Free Media. The movements root is a Facebook-page and it has already organized 3 mass-demonstrations with 30100,000 people in Budapest expressing several basic democratic demands, and a new civil medium is under preparation.

Real Democracy Now Occupy Hungary

Organizing and integrate people/movements whether they are in the right/left, for participative democracy/future, finding community-like, local solutions mainly organizing successful actions, good media-appearance - Real Democracy Now Occupy Hungary - several street actions, demonstrations, public discussions, flash-mobs etc. following the methodology of the Spanish origin Peoples Assemblies.

015 Budapest

Hungarian Solidarity Movement

Unifying oppositional movements and opposition parties on a basic minimum: changing the power to the left organizing Oppositions Round Table, actions, forums and meetings - Solidarity Movement a trade union originated movement - the name reminds people to the Polish Solidarnoscs Movement.

The City Belongs to Everyone Movement

Stopping inhumane actions against the poor/homelessness and changing wrong political decisions - The City Belongs to Everyone Movement street actions, demonstrations for the right of inhabitants and against new regulations and law on homelessness, community organizing, public discussions, campaigns with some positive results, mainly at district-level in Budapest like making local representatives to change the penalty codes they have brought.

Lodge is basic human right!

HaHa Network from Students in Higher Education Institutions

Making students active and let decision-makers know: here we are HaHa Network from Students in Higher Education Institutions street and occupy university actions, sitdown strikes, demonstrations against the new law on higher education, networking and organizing a new student interest protection structure, joint learning (summer university) etc.

Occupy University

III. Major research findings

Issues and values

Fight for both livelihood and democracy The majority of the civil movements investigated have democratic, mostly left-wing and liberal values.

New movements in the civic arena

So far: mainly intellectual workers Now: physical workers the excluded university students. We are also witnessing a revival of trade unions.

Movement versus party

A common characteristic is that they keep a distance from the political elite.

They exclude politicians and political parties from their events and actions. Regarding certain fundamental issues, the movements do occasionally cooperate with political parties.

Breaking news

23rd October, 2012

You are present!

Egytt 2014 Together 2014

Beaking news ends, researh findings continues

Analysis of the situation by key persons

Several people have referred to the emptying out of representative democracy. The human rights aspect of democracy is violated particularly excessively.

There has been an unjustified rigorousness against those being at the bottom, the excluded. Poverty is being criminalized and whatever can be punished for is punished for, instead of creating better conditions for changing the situation.

Analysis, cont.

Banks manage virtual money, with hardly any production behind it. Not only have they not informed people well, they have also cheated them. All of a sudden, new causes have been formulated. In reality it was served for us on a silver platter by those in power. Things that have not been done earned a new meaning.

IV. Major recommendations

How participants see their opportunities?

The strengthening of citizen activism The developing of skills and expertise A collective endeavor to develop a national minimum Joining forces The strengthening of the inner structure of movements Organizational development, community organizing, and training courses

How participants see their opportunities? cont.

Suggested measures to strengthen the field free nationwide medium that could communicate these ideas and good examples to the people set up organizational points in the countryside training/learning organizational skills and the art of joining forces organizational development

V. Conclusions

Necessary further steps for research and action

For research

follow up: the development of the newly emerged (October 23, 2012) coalition-building work Together 2014, established 3 civil movements/association Milla, Patria and Progress and the Hungarian Solidarity Movement new: to evaluate the distance between professional NGOs and movements/activism NGOs distance from activist action? NGOs distance from political resolution and action? Movements distance from organizational and structural development? Etc.

Necessary further steps for research and action, cont.

For action More organizations, more networks, more coalitions! Community organizing at work The strengthening of solidarity, confidence, of people realizing their own situation, and of citizen awareness at local level Community development at work providing training courses for the movements civil activists and for local community activists organizational developers, civil society trainers are at work

With whom?
Service providers: professional NGOs, including the ones dealing with community work and the development of civil society Participants: movements, formal and informal groups as further fields of practice

Finally
The research has justified that

there are certain powers in Hungarian society that understand the essence of democracy, and in desire of a better, more livable and open society they are ready/able to act for the cause

Besides the fiercely fighting activists, considerable expertise has accumulated in the country which the present political elite unwilling to utilize. These are the powers that should be put further into motion.

As far as I can see in mid 2012, it is not the Occupy movement that will spark world revolution and I do not think any movement would do. I also do not think it would be sparked in the way the old revolutions were. I think instead that in the future we can say that between 2011-2015 there was a process that we can call WORLD REVOLUTION. (student, man, 26, responsible for creative artistic action for the Hungarian Real Democracy Now Occupy movement)

HONOUR TO BRAVES!

Thank you for your kind attention!

Ilona Vercseg and Mt Varga Researchers

matev@kkapcsolat.hu vercseg@kkapcsolat.hu