A magyar szociológiai gondolkodás története 1990-ig

The volume sought to map the broader sense sociological thinking in Hungary from the first half of the 19th century to the 1990s. I tried to create a hybrid that can be both an interesting summary for professionals and "lay" interested people, and can also be used as a textbook for students (in the case of a previous book summarizing the history of Roma studies – Osiris, 2009, second, revised edition MTA TK SzI –, based on the feedback, it was possible to achieve such a synthesis). Due to methodological problems, the increased risk of subjectivity, and personal involvement, I will ‘organize’ the present day, which began around 1990, into a separate essay – readers of this volume will be able to easily find it online if they wish. The expression of sociological thinking is not an unnecessary complication: institutional, "real" sociology has existed in Hungary only since the 1970s, with the exception of a short and unproductive interlude. Previously the authors include not only amateur proto-sociologists, politicizing intellectuals, writers and poets, but professional ethnographers, historians and public administration experts too. Even more important than the lack of sociological training was the fact that the participants of proto-sociology were driven by strong currents in the direction of other, especially political/public discourses.