Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Enemies Of The Nation: Understanding The Hungarian State’S Relationship To Humanitarian Ngos, Andria D. Timmer Ph.D., Danielle Docka-Filipek Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) occupy a very ambiguous role in society. Historically, NGOs have been both heralded as democracy in action and criticized for being complicit supporters of neoliberalism. Now, in certain contexts, they are rendered as enemies of the nation. In this article, we examine the evolution of nongovernmental organizations in Hungary, a nation where this transformation is exceedingly clear. Hungary provides a pertinent case example to explore the manner in which civil society as an amorphous, ill-defined category becomes a stand-in for whatever the state needs to protect its interests. The current discourse on NGOs in Hungary plays out …