Castles of Illiberal Thought and Mercenary Thinkers: Academic Legitimation of Authoritarian Politics in Hungary
Many authoritarian regimes engage in image management domestically as well as abroad. This is also true for Hungary’s competitive authoritarian government under Fidesz. Its methods include propaganda and misinformation, besides far right and authoritarian networking. In its effort to manage its image, the Hungarian government has not spared academic institutions. Not only has Orbán expelled the Central European University from Budapest and tightened political control over state universities, but it has heavily promoted its own academic institutions and think tanks. Their role, however, remains an under-researched topic. Academic research in these institutions is neither free nor open-ended but is motivated and directed to support the government’s agenda by normalising and legitimating its positions. Yet we know very little about these institutions, who they are, how they work, or with what methods they co-opt academics. Their presence introduces problems for scholars: should they interact with mercenary thinkers in publications and conferences? Working with a Hungarian academic institution, research will conducted into this illiberal academic sector. In the second part of my fellowship, a stakeholder engagement strategy to diffuse the findings of the study will be developed in cooperation with a think tank.
