Cultural Autonomy, Safe Haven or Window-Dressing? Institutions Maintained by Minority Self-Governments in Hungary

Abstract

AbstractIn the history of national cultural autonomy (NCA) in Hungary, the emphasis since the mid-2000s has been placed on institutionalisation, with the aim of establishing, or taking over and maintaining various cultural and educational institutions with appropriate budget support by the minority self-governments (MSGs), the local variants of NCA. However, in practice this remained mostly on paper in the 1990s. But now there are hundreds of institutions—kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, dormitories, museums, libraries, theatres, research institutes, etc.—that are run by minorities. In this way, MSGs have become main actors in implementing linguistic, cultural and educational minority rights in the country.This is all the more important because recent experiences have shown that the transmission of minority languages ​​and identities in families is now largely interrupted, and minority educational institutions have an increasingly important role to play. However, this has been somewhat controversial, and still characterises minorities to varying extents, with those previously recognised in the communist era remaining in better positions with their pre-existing networks of institutions. It has only been possible for the establishment of these institutions, recognised later under the 1993 Minority Act, to begin in the last two decades. In some places, the idea of MSGs taking over existing institutions met resistance from the local populations, especially parents. In other places, especially during the Orbán governments in the 2010s, such a takeover became a kind of escape route so that the school in the municipality would neither be closed, nor continue to be maintained by the state or the churches. It has also been a question of how these minority schools perform on a variety of indicators, and thus whether it is worthwhile for parents to enrol their children. In addition, some ‘institutions’, especially certain ‘research centres’ employing only one person, cannot be considered real institutions. To address the issues above, the major aim of the study is to introduce and analyse the complex process of institutionalisation, and to summarise and evaluate its experiences, especially with regard to the impact of these institutions on the linguistic, cultural and educational rights of minorities.