Sociological Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Records

Sociology, along with other social sciences, was under a strong political pressure in the socialist era. After the foundation of the Sociological Research Group (1963), sociologists tried to make room for more autonomous academic activities. “Critical sociology” formed in part because many sociologists refused to legitimize the communist regime through their work. This collection gives insights into this controversial dynamic, i.e. the struggle between scholars on the one hand and political institutions on the other.

Ort:
- Budapest Széchenyi István tér 9, Hungary 1051
Themen:
- kritische Wissenschaft (gegen staatlich unterstützte)
- wissenschaftliche Kritik
Gründungsdatum:
- 1986
Besondere Beispiele:
- 'Sociology' Journal, 1971. Manuscript

Soros Foundation–Hungary Records

The Hungarian Soros Foundation (HSF), founded in May 1984, was George Soros's first pilot enterprise in the one-time communist bloc, years before he opened his similar Beijing, Moscow, and Warsaw offices in the late 1980s or establish his foundation network in the early 1990s throughout Central and Eastern Europe. During its 23 years of public operation, the HSF spent more than 150 million dollars by providing grants, stipends and other means of support for artists, writers, scholars, and students, and it ran several new cultural and educational, social, and health projects and remained the main supporter of NGOs and civil society in Hungary. By breaking many taboos before and after 1990 with its challenging new policies, especially in the cultural field, the HSF was strongly opposed by both the communist and nationalist protagonists of state-controlled culture. Its grantees and supporters saw its main mission as the preservation and nurturing of the spirit and values of ongoing cultural resistance.

Ort:
- Budapest Arany János utca 32, Hungary 1051
Themen:
Gründungsdatum:
- 1984
Besondere Beispiele:

State Security and the Bulgarian Intelligentsia

The collection includes documents (archival material) stored in the archive of the "Commission for the Disclosure of Documents and Announcing Affiliation of Bulgarian Citizens with the State Security and the Intelligence Services of the Bulgarian People's Army", commonly called "Commission for Dossiers" (Comdos) in Bulgarian.

The collection documents developments among the Bulgarian intelligentsia during the communist regime through the perspective of the secret police and reveals their strategies of observation and persecution of critical intellectuals.

Ort:
- Bulgaria, 1000 Sofia, ul. Vrabcha 1
Themen:
Gründungsdatum:
- 2007
Besondere Beispiele:

Szabolcs Vajay Library

Szabolcs Vajay’s collection is the bequest of a Hungarian scholar who represented classic European erudition. It also documents the efforts to save a marginalized culture. The collection offers insights into a way of life in exile which is centered around efforts to preserve heritage abroad, a lifestyle which arose in part as a response to political assault on culture.

Ort:
- Fehérvárcsurgó Petőfi Sándor utca 2, Hungary 8052
Themen:
- Emigration/ Exil
- kritische Wissenschaft (gegen staatlich unterstützte)
Gründungsdatum:
- 2011
Besondere Beispiele:
- Szabolcs Vajay. The Knights Hospitallers, 1854-1987. Book