Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
illiberalism
GyörGysc"öpflin
Itishardtothinkofanotherword
thatwouldoutrage,horrifyanddis-
maythewesternleftasmuchas“il-
liberalism”.WhenViktorOrbán,the
primeminsterofHungary,useditin
aspeechonJuly26th2014,thegrowl
ofangerwasuniversallyaudible.And
itstillis.However,thereactionhad
moretodowiththeworditselfthan
Photo:AGGymnasiumMelle(CC)commons.wikimedia.org
thetextandpoliticalcontextwhich
Orbánhadinmind.
HereisthekeypartofOrbán’s
speech:“thestartingpointofthelib-
eralorganisationofsocietyisbased
ontheideathatwehavetherightto
doanythingthatdoesnotinfringeon
thefreedomoftheotherparty…what
weexperiencedcontinuouslyineverydaylifewasthatthestrongestdecided
…inthissense(author’semphasis)thenewstatethatweareconstructingin
Hungaryisanilliberalstate,anon-liberalstate.Itdoesnotrejectthefundamen-
talprinciplesofliberalismsuchasfreedom”.Itisclearenoughtoanyonewho
carestoreaditthatthesentenceinwhichthewordilliberalismappearsisabout
economicsandithasaveryspecifcHungariancontext.Thiswasignored,how-
ever,eventhoughitiscentralinexplainingwhatilliberalismmeansforHungary.
Still,habentsuafatalibelliandsodowords.Theconceptofilliberalismhas
acquiredalifeofitsown.Indeedithasbeenextensivelyredefnedandthe
Hungariancontexthasentirelydisappeared.Inthiswayithasallowedawide
rangeofuserstoestablishapositive-negativepolarity:portrayingliberalismin
apositivelightandilliberalisminanegativelight.Equally,themeaningofillib-
eralismhasbroadenedandisnowsometimesusedtomeansomethingclose
toautocracy.ThatishowthewordisoftenappliedtopresentdayHungaryand
elsewhere.Wearealongwayfromdata-basedargumentswhenemotionally
