Outrageous History. Historical Visions, Emotional Regimes, and Right-Wing Populist Hegemony in Hungary
Outrageous History. Historical Visions, Emotional Regimes, and Right-Wing Populist Hegemony in Hungary

Summary/Abstract: The paper offers thoughts on the regime debate that has been pursued in Hungary throughout the 2010s and draws conclusions regarding the logic of Viktor Orbán’s rule;briefly elucidates three key pillars of a new-old historical-political vision that Hungary’s current rulers have endorsed and propagated to establish right-wing populist hegemony;and zooms in on the specific emotional regime this new-old historical vision helps to foster. It argues that Fidesz’s rule is better understood as a specific manner of doing politics than a fixed regime type. It shows that the new-old vision of history that has come to acquire ever more symbolic and institutional support in the country points to a restoration of national pride and sovereignty, ethnic nationalism across borders, and an anti-leftist and anti-liberal cultural crusade of sorts. I suggest that propagating visions of injustice contributes to a right-wing populist emotional regime revolving around moral outrage. I also claim that Fidesz’s method of doing politics has a radicalizing logic. As the party’s hegemonic rule increasingly turns into monopolistic control, the right-wing populist identification with the people appears to become less persuasive.

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