The Dialectic of Enlightenment was perhaps the most important critique of the enlightenment by Marxist authors, and also a most remarkable contribution of the Frankfurt School.

Philosopher Istvan Meszaros published his opus magnum under the title Beyond Capital. It quickly became popular in Western circles of progressive social science. (Istvan Meszaros: Beyond Capital. Towards a Theory of Transition. Merlin Press, London, 1995.)

Historian Gyorgy Foldes, head of the Institute of Political History, published his analysis shortly after the Socialist Party lost the 1998 parliamentary elections. (Gyorgy Foldes : Rendszer – hatalom és a baloldal Magyarországon 1994 után. [System – power and left in Hungary after 1994]. Napvilág Kiadó, Budapest, 1998.)

From the early 1980s, the multilateral lending agencies imposed conditionality on sovereign debtors. The pursuit of human rights often appeared among the political conditions set by the creditor nations, while some of their financial conditions contradicted to the provision of economic and social rights in underdeveloped countries.

Following World War Two, a recognition emerged that balanced international relations can only be achieved if domestic relations of the various countries are stable. The maintainance of human rights was seen as a pre-condition to the latter.