From Moral Principles to Political Action

Philosophically, the leading figures of the Hungarian democratic opposition went from the neo-Marxism of 1968 through the liberal socialism of István Bibó to left-leaning liberalism up until the 1980s. ¹ In terms of practical action, this was accompanied by a radical attitude of rights defending which had been exercised by the Polish opposition first. The novelty of the 1982–1984 debate of Beszélő was the discussion of which ideology should be followed, which thus became the topic of an open discussion in opposition circles. The opposition started seeing itself as a political opposition during the debate, and this led to the birth of the first political program. The ideologies of the dissidents were rather versatile, as it can be seen from the main issues discussed in the samizdat journals as well. The ideas of anarchism, ² liberal and democratic socialism, ³ radical democratic and green ideas, ⁴ and later the ideology of classical liberalism. It was equally important for the dissidents to represent alternative cultural endeavors vis-à-vis the official culture of the state. During the 1985 European Cultural Forum which was hosted by Budapest members of the opposition organized a counter-forum, which was attended by well-known Western authors as well. ⁵