Seminar series The reconceptualisation of civil society in an illiberal democracy: the Hungarian case Add to calendar 2024-04-10 12:30 2024-04-10 14:00 Europe/Rome The reconceptualisation of civil society in an illiberal democracy: the Hungarian case Sala Triaria Villa Schifanoia YYYY-MM-DD Print Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Send by email When 10 April 2024 12:30 - 14:00 CEST Where Sala Triaria Villa Schifanoia Organised by Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies EGPP: European Governance and Politics Programme Join Krisztina Arato as she explores the evolution of civil society in post-communist East Central Europe and reveals profound shifts in its concepts, forms, and context, offering insights into broader understandings of governance and democracy in the region. Civil society, while being an elastic concept, is widely understood as space outside the state, the market and private sphere that among others, contributes greatly to the quality of democracy providing non-electoral participation forms in day-to day politics. This civil society ethos was very much in focus in the 1989/90 in East Central Europe in newly established democracies and contributed significantly to system change. The democracy decline process in the region after 2010 and the birth of illiberal democracies brought about changes in the attitudes towards and the understanding of civil society. Based on the Hungarian case, in this seminar it is argued that the Orbán regime has redefined the concepts, the forms and the context of civil society and in this process it is possible to trace to regime’s understanding of politics in general that can shed light on other fields of governance, too. Contact(s): Alessandra Caldini Scientific Organiser(s): Daniele Caramani (European University Institute) Lorenzo Cicchi (EUI) Speaker(s): Krisztina Arató (European University Institute)