Geographical Metanarratives in East-Central Europe: Neo-Turanism in Hungary

Two EU-based social scientists investigate the geographical metanarrative of Neo-Turanism as articulated by the recently ascendant far-right party Jobbik (Movement for a Better Hungary), which differs from most European far-right movements but shares some elements of the anti-Western orientation with Eurasianism and Pan-Slavism. The authors trace Neo-Turanism's origin to a historical ideology (Turanism) that aspires to terminate Hungary's alliance with the Euro-Atlantic community and instead form a cultural, political, and economic alliance with the Uralo-Altaic peoples (i.e., Turks of Turkey, the Turkic peoples of Central Asia, Tatars, the aboriginal tribes of Siberia, and even Mongols, Manchus, Koreans, and Japanese). After examining the development of Turanism during the 18th to 20th centuries, they draw on concentrated fieldwork and interviews in 2012 to focus on its revival (Neo-Turanism) in post-communist Hungary. Due attention is paid to the revival within the political platform articulated by Jobbik as well as in the everyday political activities of many of the country's inhabitants and social groupings in the context of Europeanization and globalization. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F020, F590, Z000. 1 figure, 1 table, 79 references.