Work group
Economy
Dorothee Bohle is a professor of comparative politics at the University of Vienna. Previously, she held positions at the European University Institute, Florence, and the Central European University, Budapest. She is the author of Capitalist Diversity on Europe´s Periphery (co-authored with Béla Greskovits, Cornell University Press, 2012) and numerous journal articles. Her most recent publications include "What shapes populists’ economic policy impact? An analysis of financial market reform in Hungary and Poland" (co-authored with Nils Ollerich), and "The Gramscian politics of Europe’s rule of law crisis", co-authored with Béla Greskovits and Marek Naczyk. Both articles have appeared in the Journal of European Public Policy.
Research Project
The Nation against the Foundation: The Contest for Hungarian Civil Society after Socialism
The book project (co-authored with Béla Greskovits) seeks to tease out why in Hungary liberal civil society lost out against its rival, nationalist forces. We focus on Hungary, because during the three-and-half decades that passed since the collapse of the socialist system, the battle between liberal – open - society and national community have been vigorously pursued, with their protagonists adopting different strategies for entrenching themselves in society. To address our question we offer a detailed comparative analysis of the Open Society Foundation (OSF) networks and projects and the Civic Circles Movement. We conceptualize their different strategies as a philanthropic venture capitalist (OSF), and a Gramscian hegemonic (Civic Circles)strategy. Empirically, we look at the socio-economic origins and goals of activists; their claims for representation, mobilizing frames, and skills to perceive political opportunities; the nexus between moral principles and economic interests; patterns, principles, and purposes of organization and finance; and efforts to (re) educate society and train new elites. During my stay at the KFG, I will mostly be working on the conceptual and the educational part of the project.