On April 3, 2022 Hungarian voters will get a chance to re-elect FIDESz and PM Orban for his fourth consecutive term. This time around several opposition parties selected an opponent, Péter Márki-Zay, in a democratic primary to challenge FIDESz's overbearing majority. Márki-Zay's vision for a post-2022 Hungary includes a promise of restoring constitutional democracy. This is both a political and an intellectual challenge that cannot be fixed easily through 'smart lawyering.' Constitutional transition out of an hybrid regime calls for a constitutional resettlement - a process that tackles the practices that turned illiberal democracy into a mundane, everyday experience in the heart of Europe.
Renáta Uitz is a professor of comparative constitutional law at CEU Vienna and a co-director of the CEU Democracy Institute at Budapest. Her major research interests lie in transition to and from constitutional democracy, the protection of individual autonomy and religious liberty. Her current work focuses on illiberal constitutional practices in the European Union and the normalization of illiberal constitutionalism around the world.
Réka Kinga Papp will comment on Professor Uitz' talk. She is editor-in-chief at Eurozine (www.eurozine.com) and specializes in environmental, social and human rights issues. She is the author of a book on sex work and prostitution in Hungary, Aki kurvának áll: szexmunka sztorik (Once You Enrol As a Whore: Sex Work Stories, Kossuth 2017).
Discussion will be moderated by Cathrin Kahlweit, Vienna-based correspondent of the Süddeutsche Zeitung. The lecture will be followed by a public discussion.
The Transformative Salon will take place on March, 3rd, starting at 19:00 at the Café Florianihof in Florianigasse 45.
Due to limited places we kindly ask you to register by sending a short message to recet@univie.ac.at and to comply with public Covid regulations in the gastronomy.
Event language will be English.
The event will be broadcast live via Zoom.
Organized in collaboration with the CEU Democracy Institute: https://democracyinstitute.ceu.edu/.
