Radical Right Culture and the Youth: The Development of Contemporary Hungarian Political Culture

This paper addresses the rise in support for radical-right parties and organizations in Hungary and its relation to the post-communist development of civil society. Unlike the primarily liberal democratic political youth movements in the first years after Hungarian transformation, the current youth population is showing higher tendencies towards support of traditionalism and of radical-right organizations. Rejuvenated by the radical-right political party Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik) and its related radical civic programs and organizations, the radical-right is creating a strong social network for young Hungarians, building cultural, historical and community structures and having an affect on everything from music and fashion to value formation. The aim of this paper is two-fold. First it is necessary to track the structural political developments that opened the door for radicalism in Hungarian political culture, solidifying strong networks of symbolic politics and value orientation over economic and structural platforms to gain electoral support. The secondary analysis looks at how the contemporary radical-right networks have rejuvenated their support base with modern political mechanisms in order to become less marginalized and more intertwined with political culture and civil society compared with previous radical-right movements in Hungary.