The World and Hungary Transformed: Looking Out, Looking In

The two-day event will feature leading scholars/keynote speakers, including Professor Mary Kaldor (London School of Economics), Professor András Bozóki (Central European University), Hon. Professor László Andor (ELTE), and Professor Gábor Halmai (European University Institute, Florence and ELTE).

The workshop will explore the evolving role of the European Union in regional and global security, human rights, and development. It will examine the principles and objectives that should guide Hungary’s external relations in an interconnected world. Discussions will also focus on the transition from neoliberalism and consumerism toward a new Social Contract, as well as on pathways from demagoguery and illiberalism toward deliberative democracy, participatory governance, and constitutional patriotism.

Program

DAY 1 — OCTOBER 2, 2025 | Zsuzsa Ferge Faculty Seminar Room 0.100C

Jean Monnet Workshop — Beyond Europe: The EU Neighbourhood Policy and Hungary’s External Relations

The workshop is organized in the framework of the Jean Monnet Module “EUGlobDev – The EU’s Global and Development Dimensions,” hosted by ELTE’s Department of Global and Development Studies. It aims at looking at Europe and Hungary from the perspective of global transformations and connections.

The keynote lecture is delivered by Mary Kaldor, Professor Emeritus of Global Governance and Director of the Conflict Research Programme at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Following Prof. Kaldor’s lecture, discussants from ELTE open a dialogue on the role of the European Union in regional and global security, human rights, and development.

The workshop also includes a book launch by staff member Laura Kromják, as well as a session about the expansion of ELTE’s global relations.

14.00 — Introduction: The Jean Monnet Module “The EU’s Global and Development Dimensions” by Béla Soltész — Chair
https://polir.elte.hu/jeanmonnetmodule

14.15 — 15.15 — Keynote Speech Mary Kaldor — London School of Economics

15.15 — 15.30 — Short break

15.30 — 16.30 — Discussion based on presentation
Discussants — Alla Lisovska and Andrew Ryder, and audience

16.30 — 16.45 — Coffee break

16.45 — 17.15 — Laura Kromják: Intergenerational Trauma in Refugee Communities (Routledge, 2025) — book launch

17.15 — 18.15 — Erasmus student and staff exchanges with non-European partners
Anna Sebestyén (Tanzania — Development Issues)
András Szalai (Brazil — Fear and Compliance)

18.15 — Networking — wine reception and snacks

DAY 2 — OCTOBER 3, 2025 | Zsuzsa Ferge Faculty Seminar Room 0.100C

In Search of the Good Society and the Launch of the Future of Hungary—Lecture/Roundtable Series

The lecture series will reflect on the current situation and seek to map out an alternative vision reflecting on what a more open and inclusive Hungary might look like and how inspiration and ideas for that future can already be found within Hungary, but also elsewhere in Europe.

The organizers hope to not only identify practical reforms but connect the discussion to broader philosophical debates around the ‘politics of happiness’ and the ‘Good Society’. The search for a fair and equitable society is a longstanding one in intellectual thought in terms of the Economic/Social/Cultural sphere of society.

14.00 — Introduction by László Andor — Chair

14.15 — 15.00 — Keynote András Bozóki

15.00 — 15.45 — Discussants Mary Kaldor and Ákos Kopper

15.45 — 16.00 — Coffee break

16.00 — 17.00 — Launch of the Future of Hungary Lecture/Roundtable Series — Chair Aliz Nagy
Kovács Krisztina, Gábor Halmai, Balázs Majtényi

17.00 — Launch of new book by Anna Ujlaki
A Feminist Exploration of Migration: A Critical Cosmopolitan Care Approach (Palgrave Macmillan)

17.30 — Networking — wine reception and snacks