This timely book examines far-right politics in Hungary-but its relevance points much beyond
Hungary. With its two main players the radical right Jobbik and populist right Fidesz it is
an essentially Eastern European European and global phenomenon. Jobbik and Fidesz political
parties with a populist nativist authoritarian approach Eastern and pro-Russian orientation
and strong anti-Western stance are on the one hand products of the problematic transformation
period that is typical for post-communist countries. But they are products of a populist
Zeitgeist in the West as well with declining trust in representative democratic and
supranational institutions politicians experts and the mainstream media. The rise of
politicians such as Nigel Farage in the UK Marine Le Pen in France Norbert Hofer in Austria
and most notably Donald Trump in the US are clear indications of this trend. In this book
the story of Jobbik (and Fidesz) contemporary players of the Hungarian radical right scene
are not treated as separate case studies but as representatives of broader international
political trends. Far-right parties such as Jobbik (and increasingly Fidesz) are not pathologic
and extraordinary but exaggerated seemingly pathological manifestations of normal mainstream
politics. The radical right is not the opposite and denial of the mainstream but the sharp
caricature of the changing national and often international mainstream.
