Abstract
Katalin Fábián’s book, Contemporary Women’s Movements in Hungary: Globalization, Democracy, and Gender Equality, was published in 2009. It is the first book that comprehensively examines the phenomenon of the formation of the women’s movement in Hungary. The book ‘contrasts the stages of development in organization, membership, and activism of Hungarian women’s group since 1989’ (p. 1). It focuses on the social change induced by these groups regarding violence (especially domestic) and welfare issues.
In this review, I consider some of the specific analyses that Fábián develops, but the book also raised questions for me about the future of the women’s groups in Hungary (in particular) and Central and Eastern Europe (in general). I read this book as a contribution to the intellectual and political history of women’s movements, NGOs, and thinking more widely to feminism. It also reflects the social and political climate of Hungary before and after 1989. In particular, the book shows that after 1989 women’s groups started to push and pressure governments and to raise awareness of society to change popular perception of women’s status. Fábián suggests that ‘these groups have altered their structure, aims, and strategies as a result of this increasing transnational interconnectedness, and that globalization has fundamentally influenced whether and how they succeed in making an impact’ (p. 2).
The book consists of 10 chapters. In the introduction (‘The connection between women’s activism, globalisation, and democracy in Hungary’), the author presents the connections among women’s activism, globalization, and democracy in Hungary. She outlines the main purpose of the book, which is focusing ‘on the activities of women’s groups during twenty years of change, presents a dynamic and temporally and geographically comparative study of postcommunist Hungary in its transition to a more gender-conscious form of democracy’ (p. 4). The first chapter is also used to define the location of the study as well as to clarify the terms.
In Chapter 2 (‘The significance of gender after the regime transitions’), the author discusses how changing gender roles affects women’s groups in their utilization of the networks of civil society and the broad processes of globalization and democracy. There is also a discussion of how relations between men and women were ordered around the public/private dichotomy during the communist era.
The analysis of the macroeconomic basis is the core of Chapter 3 (‘The gender disparity of political and economic developments in postcommunist Central and Eastern Europe’). The chapter and quantitative data used to describe how gender inequality has changed since 1989 in Central and Eastern Europe include assessments of how women bear the burden of the new allocation of resources and duties by comparing them with relatively unchanged gender regimes in Western Europe.
Chapter 4 (‘Making an appearance: The formation of women’s groups in Hungary’) focuses on the underrepresentation of women in various fields of democracy. The main question is why there are so few women representing their own interests. The author provides also a short history of women’s groups as well as an analysis of the economic, social, and political conditions that facilitate mobilizing those groups to act. She argues that ‘feminism has helped to establish common ground among activists’ (p. 17).
The characteristics of women’s groups, with a special focus on their structure, engagement in public life, and financial dependence on other groups, are discussed in Chapter 5 (‘The organizational characteristics of women’s groups: Influencing and influenced by democratization’). The reader will find an explanation of why various types of organizations can induce engagement in national politics and encourage women to move toward politics. The author asks whether women’s groups have the potential to spread their message beyond their own boundaries and to influence the politics.
In Chapter 6 (‘Women activists’ beliefs about gender equality and politics: Is there a base for substantive democracy’), Fábián discusses if the substantive elements of democracy surface in the beliefs, aims, and strategies of women’s groups. The decision to consider themselves liberal, socialist, communist, anarchist, conservative, or feminist is an important step to political identity. Fábián analyzes also how the notion of quantitative equality causes difficulties for the creation and maintenance of women’s groups.
Chapter 7 (‘Quiet riot: The activities and impact of Hungarian women’s groups along the democratic continuum’) identifies the areas that Hungarian women’s groups see as the most useful targets on which to focus their energies. The author analyzes how these groups attempt to influence the general public and political decision makers by developing innovative outsider strategies. Women activists often choose to mobilize the media, the public, cultural elites, and international organizations to change perceptions and behaviors and to enhance their group’s impact.
Chapter 8 (‘Bridges across the public/private divide: The welfare-related activism of Hungarian women after 1989’) shows how interpretations of gender, welfare, and social rights can support both government policies and women’s actions. In this chapter, contemporary Hungary is placed on the political map of democratization. The gendered nature of welfare is also discussed. The author also mentions the emergence of themes in women’s welfare-related activism in Hungary.
How Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, and Hungarian governments have responded to the issue of domestic violence and to international expectations in this area is the core of Chapter 9 (‘Combating violence against women: The interaction of global network with local activism in postcommunist Hungary and Central and Eastern Europe’). In postcommunist Europe, it took a long time to develop activist networks capable of pressuring the respective governments to address this long-neglected issue. Fábián hypothesizes that violence against women as well as welfare restructuring have become rallying cries for women’s activities, because they connect the private and public arenas and potentially redraw the boundary between them.
The last chapter (‘Aging dangerously: Outcomes of women organizing in postcommunist Hungary’) is a summary of all the foregoing considerations. It explores the social and political impact of the activities of Hungarian women’s groups. The chapter examines the effects of actions taken by women’s groups in postcommunist Hungary and the common problems regarding sustained mobilization. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how negotiation and change in newly democratic countries demonstrates the significance of women’s organizing.
What is really important in this book is the description of problems that Hungarian women had to face before 1989 in relation to issues of feminism. Even if the communist regime tried to say that women are equal to men (‘women on tractors’), in the Hungarian reality it was only a slogan that had nothing in common with gender equality. Moreover, after 1989 the situation hadn’t changed substantially. The author points out that the women’s movement was even more marginalized after 1989.
This book demonstrates that entering a market economy was not a sufficient reason for changing the approach to the idea of feminism. The author convincingly shows the different aspects of gender and postcommunism in the wider perspectives of globalization and democracy.
The great advantage of this book is that Fábián selects issues related to gender equality. She focuses mainly on convincing the reader that the creation of the women’s movement in Hungary was not like the movements in Western Europe. Moreover, she points out that the women’s movement in Central and Eastern Europe is understood differently than the movement in the West. The main reason for that is (in her opinion) the mentality of the society, which was born and raised under the communist regime. What is needed is generational change. The generations of Hungarians born after 1989, now living in the globalized world, will have a different approach to these issues compared to their parents’ generation. Young Hungarians will maintain more intensive contacts with their Western European peers. It is a chance for women’s movements to become part of international movements.
Unfortunately, Fábián doesn’t show the reader possible solutions or possible ways for the development of the women’s movement in Hungary. There are too few references to the international women’s movement in relation to globalization. The reader could feel that there is insufficient information about the globalized women’s movement.
Moreover, there is also hardly anything about feminism. The reader might expect at least some short overview about types of feminism. Fábián doesn’t show how feminism influenced the women’s movement in Hungary (if it did). She also doesn’t discuss the attitude of several women’s groups toward feminism.
However, the great advantage of this book is that Fábián tells the story of the successes of the women’s movement in Hungary. It could be an incentive for future movements. It is also important that she examines the different forms of Hungarian women’s groups according to how much they identify with feminist consciousness. Her analysis shows how a selectively presented history and ideological genesis are used to justify the existence of women’s groups and their longstanding roots (p. 76).