Privatized childhoods: The decreasing role of the state in childcare services
The latest issue of Intersections. East European Society and Politics is now published.

Authors of the best publications of our institutes are acknowledged each year. On 5 March, 2025, Zsolt Boda, General Director, handed out the awards at the annual meeting of the Centre for Social Sciences, followed by brief presentations of the research findings.
We inform our partners that due to a government decision, our research centre was integrated into ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. As of 1 August 2025, our legal name is ELTE Centre for Social Sciences
Featured news
The latest issue of Intersections. East European Society and Politics is now published.
Csilla Fedinec's new study has been published in Forum Social Science Review 2025/5.
The issue of the state language, minority languages, and minority rights in general is extensively covered in Ukrainian literature. This study summarizes the developments from the passing of the first Ukrainian language law in 1989 to the end of 2024. It provides a detailed overview of how the content of all basic concepts and legislation has evolved, thereby dispelling many misunderstandings and correcting misinterpretations in propaganda. The issues are examined in both the Ukrainian and international contexts, with examples relating to the Hungarian minority.
Organized by the Rubicon Institute, at Premier CultCafé, on December 10, 2025, at 6 p.m., László Szarka (Rubicon Institute) held a discussion with Iván Halász (ELTE TK JTI) and Nándor Bárdi (ELTE TK KI) entitled "The Trianon Neighbourhood - The Little Entente Countries and Hungarian Revisionist Policy". The participants in this program will also speak on the subject on Kossuth Radio's program "100 Years Ago" on December 18, 2025, at 8:37 p.m. and on January 8, at the same time.
Our colleague, Tamás Gusztáv Filep, will give a lecture in Cluj-Napoca on December 8, at 6 p.m., at the headquarters of the Transylvanian Museum Association. The title of his lecture is: "Just because something is harmful does not mean that it can be avoided" – Publicist Zsigmond Kemény
The publications of the European Foundation for Comparative Minority Studies (EÖKiK) and the Civitas Europica Centralis Foundation are now available in our institute's Digital Reading Room.
Csilla Fedinec’s new study has been published, offering an analysis of three decades of minority rights development in Ukraine: after the early period of openness and pluralism, the strengthening of a state-centric approach reshaped the regulatory framework, followed by further comprehensive legal reforms – partly driven by European integration efforts. The study can be read here.
Having started from within the framework of the HUN-REN Data Repository Platform (HUN-REN ARP) project, since October 1st 2024 all institutions of the HUN-REN (Hungarian Research Network) now have a designated data steward (full-time) position. The initiative proved to be of success: it has received support from the HUN-REN HQ for the coming year (in the form of funding as well).
The Voices of the 20th Century Archive specifically collects materials from interview research to make them available to registered users. The level of access is determined on the one hand by the restrictions set according to the intentions of the depositing researchers, and on the other hand by data protection considerations arising from the nature of the deposited documents themselves. The RDC is responsible for developing and implementing a system of conditions that meets both donor requests and privacy principles.
The ONTOLISST project, launched at the end of 2024 under the coordination of RDC CSS within an international consortium and funded by the European Union, has now completed its first year. The project aims to improve the discoverability and interoperability of social science research data through multilingual, cost-efficient digital tools.
As of November 2025, ARP (Adatrepozitórium Platform/Data Repository Platform) is celebrating its fourth-year anniversary. During these four years we have hit several milestones and what started out as a project is now both an infrastructure and a community, with hundreds of users and members growing in number by the day.
Our results
June 2026
Katona, N., & Gábriel, D. (2026). The quiet collapse: Authoritarian neoliberalism and the crisis of care of older people in Hungary. Economy and Society, 55(2), 301–323. https://doi.org/10.1080/03085147.2026.2632445
May 2026
Written by Andrea Szabó, András Bozóki, and Zoltán Gábor Szűcs-Zágoni
March 2026
Benedek István (2026): Polarizing transition? Opposition strategies and the rise of Péter Magyar and the Respect and Freedom Party (TISZA) in Hungary. Comparative European Politics.