The death of Miklós Jancsó provides a tragic apropos to evaluate the universal implication of the oeuvre of the great leftist director, who was always critical towards the world of capitalism. The Polish author comparatively analyses two movies of Wajda and two movies of Jancsó to conceptualize gripping aesthetical conclusions that introduces the two great directors into the context of both national and universal movie culture.
Category Archives: Periodical articles
The Holocaust in the area of the Western Group of Occupation Forces. Account of the Solicitor Division of the State Protection Authority in the case of Nándor Pápai, 12th of January, 1950.
The participation of the Hungarian occupying troops in the Nazi genocide in the Soviet territories lately has got into the focus of attention. A nation-wide debate has emerged in Hungary, and it shows that it could be rewarding to deepen the researches among the documents kept on the shelves of the Hungarian archives as well. This document is an account of an investigation by the Hungarian authorities after the war about the sequential mass murders. It reveals that despite the former statement of the literature, the troops of the Western Group of Occupation Forces actively took part in the Holocaust.
The world-systems theory: arguments and problems
The author looks at the world-systems analysis as a recent, up-to-date and adequate form of the Marx rooted critical social theory – contrary to Wallerstein himself, who regards his attempts as establishing a new and interdisciplinary science, although in its direct factors of emergence giving credits to elements of the Marxian tradition. The world-systems analysis, nevertheless offers a fruitful and rich insight, with several players, which can be tested against reality.
Immanuel Wallerstein: the myth of historical capitalism
The study is a critical evaluation of Wallerstein's theory on "historical capitalism": drawing general theoretical conclusions especially on changing social forms and demanding a stricter class based approach. In the countries of the former "Eastern Block", the world-systems analysis is more useful in sociology and in historical science than the trendy theoretical tools, which replace the backward looking soviet "historical materialism", like the "civilization" based approach, the "clash of civilisations" or even fully desisting theories. It is time for social scholars in East Europe to read the inspiring sources of Wallerstein, namely the works of Latin American and African authors of the dependence school.
The actuality of István Bibó
The edited version of the lecture given at the Eszmélet Academy of Social Critique: the heritage of Bibó as a chapter in the humanist tradition of Hungary. [Kossuth Klub, February 8, 2011.]