Szociológiai Szemle 12. (2002)
2002 / 4. szám - ABSTRACTS - Ferge Zsuzsa: Social Structure and Inequalities in Old Socialism and New Capitalism in Hungary (Abstract) - Szalai Júlia: Social Outcasts in 21st Century Hungary (Abstract)
ABSTRACTS Zsuzsa Ferge Social Structure and Inequalities in Old Socialism and New Capitalism in Hungary The structure of state socialism was stifled by totalitarian power yet inequalities persisted. The stratification by the ‘character of the work done’, a combination of power/authority, knowledge, working conditions etc. was veiled by the official ideology about the near-equality of two ‘classes’ and about the abolition of poverty. Social inequalities were studied in the 1960s and 1980s in these terms, showing a structure that was shifting upwards in two decades, where social distances decreased in some respects, but where the reproduction of inequalities already started, and the lack of freedom was increasingly keenly felt. The structure of new capitalism seems to be based on capital ownership and the position on the labor market, though the old professional categories still have some validity. The new structure produces much larger inequalities and new forms of poverty. The threat of lasting poverty and exclusion looms large. Júlia Szalai Social Outcasts in 21st Century Hungary Part One of this study summarizes the general view of poverty since the political regime changed, and the practical consequences. The previous regime’s denial and hiding of the poverty issue has had several effects. One is that poverty is considered foreign to the system, simply the fallout of economic crisis, and therefore transitional. The belief in its transitional nature has covered up the difference between mass impoverishment and lasting poverty, which always existed, is becoming increasingly serious, and can easily escalate into permanent exclusion. The need to dismantle an overcentralized state is a major reason why the poverty problem has not been understood. Public expenditure can be reduced with little resistance if only those ‘who really need it’ are assisted. This policy suggests that poverty is ‘accidental’ and individualized, and that the victims can be blamed. Another, more practical consequence has been the segregating effect of separate institutional poverty management. Institutional reforms have created a huge network of decentralized institutions, which have cut off poverty from other social problems. The social nature of poverty has thus been hidden under the guise of individualization as well as by transferring management to small communities. At the same time, these measures have anchored lines of demarcation between mainstream society and the poor. Part Two of the study focuses on the internal stratification of the poor. The result of impoverishment is that there is now a mass of income-poor people (retirees, low-income families, parents of young children), whose problems are ‘only’ ones of distribution. Since their bonds to mainstream society have not been fatally injured, their situation could be resolved with money Szociológiai Szemle 2002/4. 208-211.