The Institute for Minority Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the European Centre for Minority Issues agree on a Memorandum of Understanding.

Continue

Latest news

Jazyky na papierových platidlách mnohonárodných štátov na príklade Česko-Slovenska a Sovietskeho zväzu

The new open access article in Slovak by Csilla Fedinec and István Csernicskó was published in Jazykovedný časopis and is available at HERE.

Abstract. Along with portraits of historical figures, images relating to the culture and history of a particular nation, the presence (or absence) of languages on banknotes is also an element of symbolic politics and part of the manifestation of the language policy of a particular state. In this paper, banknotes are seen as an element of the linguistic landscape, and the linguistic landscape - as a reflection of language policy, its peculiar public expression. This paper analyses the way in which the text displayed on multilingual banknotes constructs and reproduces linguistic hierarchies, reflecting the relative status of the languages within two multi-ethnic states: the Czechoslovak Republic and the Soviet Union. The study explores which languages were represented in the inscriptions of the various series of banknotes issued, based on the assumption that banknotes participate in the official language practices constituting the linguistic landscape and as such mediate language ideologies. The authors conclude that even multinational states that issue multilingual banknotes guarantee that the state language should be in a dominant position.

Forced Migrants From Ukraine in Transnational Europe network

Through the research Helping Displaced People from Ukraine: Collective Forms and Social Contexts of solidarity (lead researcher: Margit Feischmidt) our institute has become a member of the international research network FORUM (Forced Migrants from Ukraine in Transnational Europe), founded by the German Centre for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM) and Zentrum für Osteuropa- und internationale Studien (ZOiS). Prior to joining, an international workshop on the topic was co-organised by our Institute on 15 December 2022.

Linguistic diversity in media and state language proficiencies: evidence from Hungarian minority regions in central-Eastern Europe

The new article by Zsombor Csata, Attila Papp Z. and their co-authors is now published online in Regional and Federal Studies, and is available at HERE.

Abstract. Can linguistic diversity in the media impede state language proficiency? In this paper, we test the extent to which the availability of minority languages in the media affects state language proficiency for ethnic minorities. We take advantage of an exogeneous development: The rapid expansion of Budapest-originating media outside Hungary in the mid-2000s transformed the media landscape in neighbouring states. Using an original survey data of ethnic Hungarians in minority regions in four Central-Eastern European states over two waves, we find (1) the availability of minority language media means minorities are consuming less media in the state language, which in turn induces low levels of state language proficiency – i.e. through an exogeneous exposure mechanism; and (2) minorities with weaker state language proficiency choose to consume minority language media – i.e. through an endogenous selection mechanism. The results suggest a strong relationship between the language of media consumption and linguistic proficiency.

Education for a Christian nation

Eszter Neumann will present her current work on right-wing populism and nationalism in European politics in an online seminar ´Education for a Christian nation.´ The event will be organized by the Research Centre on Transnationalism and Transformation (TRANSIT) of the Tampere University on Friday, January 20th at 2:00pm (Helsinki time, EET). Registration is now open at HERE.

Unpacking the functions of institutions in an emerging diaspora: Hungarian weekend schools in the UK

The new article by Attila Papp Z., Eszter Kovács and András Kováts is now published online in Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, and is available at HERE.

The paper outlines the functioning of Hungarian weekend schools in the United Kingdom, which are key institutions in emerging diaspora communities. The paper interprets Hungarian weekend schools in two paradigms: it approaches them as diaspora institutions, and also as Anglo-Saxon supplementary schools. One of the paper’s main conclusions is that, in addition to the manifest functions of Hungarian weekend schools (e.g., preservation of national identity, mother-tongue education, community engagement), latent functions are also essential, such as the psychological need of belonging to a community, the support of children’s educational attitudes, the consciousness of bilingualism, the enhancement of social capital, and integration into the host community. Thus, weekend schools are not only sites for knowledge transfer, but they also provide space for the institutionalization of diaspora as cultural community-building institutions.