Budapest Politics Tour: Contemporary Hungary

Culturally and geographically, Hungary can be seen as a bridge between East and West. This unique tour explores the truths and historical context of the country’s contemporary situation. In the company of a political scientist guide, you will deconstruct how and what contemporary Hungarian politics—not only in a theoretical sense but also by looking at the politics of everyday life, like in education, religion, culture, art, architecture, and urban planning.

During our time together, we'll peel back the layers of Hungarian identity and social hierarchy. This can include the differences between “western” and “eastern” European democracies, as well as notions of left and right, and the different meanings of concepts such as liberalism, conservatism, and nationalism. We’ll ask how international players such as US universities, NGOs, and personalities like Hungarian-born American investor and philanthropist George Soros have influenced political developments

Our journey starts at the famous Chain Bridge, a structure that symbolizes urbanization and the birth of Budapest as a modern metropolis. (For a look at this area in a broader historical context, we recommend our Budapest City Tour.) Through buildings, squares, bridges, churches, ruins, and invented heroes, the city-wide traces of the intense 20th-century political battle will gradually become visible to us. Some monuments are protected by police, while others have been erected with questionable legality, and both circumstances beg the question, "Why?" Taking cues from the cityscape around us, we’ll discuss how Hungary deals with its past and the disagreements that arise out of this process. 

Sites across Budapest will offer the chance to dig into what makes Hungary run. At the end of our time together, we’ll see Budapest as a fascinating fusion of traditional, modern and postmodern; a city constantly redefining itself as it seeks a secure sense of identity and place.