TÁRKI has published the latest comprehensive collection of essays by Iván Szelényi and Péter Mihályi, one of which brings together 18 articles and 2 interviews originally published in Hungarian, while the other contains 12 English-language studies in full lenght, all in a single, easy-to-read and referenceable book.
For years, these two internationally renowned social scientists have consistently analyzed global trends and the structure of Hungarian society and economy, with a particular focus on the development of inequalities. In addition to analyzing liberalism and illiberalism and immigration, this volume attempts to provide a comprehensive interpretation of the Orbán era (2010–2025): it shows how society and the wealth structure have changed, and what new types of economic, political, and cultural inequalities have emerged or deepened.
The volume is intended not only for researchers and experts, but also for anyone who would like to understand how Hungary functions today and place the events of the past decade and a half in a broader European and global context.
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Publisher: TÁRKI Social Research Institute Ltd., 1051 Budapest, Nádor utca 7.
Expected publication date: January 2026
About the authors
Iván Szelényi (born 1938-) is a Széchenyi Prize-winning Hungarian sociologist, university professor, and full member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA). He is an internationally renowned researcher in the fields of urban and settlement sociology and the structural problems of capitalism and socialism. He defended his doctoral thesis in sociology in 1973. In 1974, he was arrested for sending the manuscript of his book Az értelmiség útja az osztályhatalomhoz (The Intellectuals' Path to Class Power), co-authored with György Konrád, abroad, and was subsequently expelled from Hungary in 1975. He taught first in England, then in Australia, and later served as department chair at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for 11 years. In 1999, he was appointed department chair at Yale University. His works have been published in Hungarian, English, French, German, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Russian, Polish, Bulgarian, and Romanian. He was a member of the editorial board of Esély and the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, and also became a member of the editorial board of Theory and Society. He holds honorary doctorates from five universities, has been an honorary citizen of Budapest since 2008, and is a member of the board of directors of TÁRKI Zrt.
Péter Mihályi (born 1953-) is an economist, university professor, and has been a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences since 2022. He is professor emeritus at Corvinus University of Budapest. Between 1983 and 1993, he worked as an analyst at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in Geneva. From 1996 to 2024, he was a visiting professor at Central European University (CEU). From 1997 to 1998, he was Deputy State Secretary for Public Expenditure at the Ministry of Finance. He was head of the Health Working Group of the State Reform Commission between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary in 2007 in recognition of his work in laying the economic foundations for the reform of the Hungarian healthcare system.
