The “Hungarian Model” – the dialectical relationship of the Self and the Other on the background of the 2015 refugee crisis

ABSTRACT

In times of ontological insecurity, identities face pressures of reformulation and doubts over their legitimacy. By analysing the discursive practices of the Hungarian Prime Minister, the following paper addresses the complex process of Hungarian identity construction. Drawing on the intellectual heritage of symbolic interactionism and linking it to the current post-structuralist research, I stress the interconnection of foreign policy and the dialectical Self-Other relationship. Additionally, the article strengthens the argument of previous studies claiming that the Prime Minister intensifies the “othering” in his discourse to gain support for his vision of the Hungarian identity and simultaneously increase the support of voters for his party.

KEYWORDS:

• Refugee crisis
• Hungary
• identity
• symbolic interactionism
• discourse

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data analysed for this study are openly available in Mendeley Data at https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/575wb9dztw/1, doi: 10.17632/575wb9dztw.1 reference number Version 1.

Notes

1. Generally, othering is considered the tool used by political elites to legitimize their perception of the state identity.

2. The theory of symbolic interactionism originates within the pragmatic tradition of scholars such as Charles H. Cooley, George H. Mead, and his student Herbert Blumer (Denzin 1992).

3. Although being one of the most prominent authors who utilized G.H. Mead’s pragmatist approach, A. Wendt’s view of symbolic interactionism are frequently criticized. Wendt interpreted Mead’s Self as an individualistic identity, a substance consisting of social and pre-social elements. This view is opposite to the original Self understood by Mead as a process. See (Adler-Nissen 2017; Hansen 2006; Blumer 1969).

4. The total word count of the texts was 13,720 words.

5. In October 2014, the US government imposed a visa ban on six officials due to suspected corruption involvement. The most prominent member of the group was Ildikó Vida, the president of the Tax Authority (Hungary Transparency International Foundation 2018).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Charles University, project GA UK No. 1313620, and by Charles University’s grant SVV-260 595 (“Political order in the times of changes“).