András Németh – författare

Life reform and progressive education developed various utopias and projected new ways of cultural, social, religious and political living. This book studies how these utopias lived on until World War II, how they still affect present life in Austria and Hungary, and it examines continuities and differences within the political, educational and cultural movements of both countries. The main focus lies on interrelations between educational utopias and strategies and the development of a collective identity in times of radical political and social changes.Lebensreform und Reformpädagogik entwarfen Utopien für das kulturelle, soziale und religiöse Leben. Dieses Buch untersucht das Weiterleben dieser Utopien bis zum Beginn des zweiten Weltkrieges, ihre Wirkungen bis in die Gegenwart in Österreich und Ungarn und beleuchtet Kontinuitäten und Differenzen innerhalb der (bildungs-)politischen und kulturellen Strömungen beider Länder. Im Zentrum steht die Frage nach Zusammenhängen zwischen pädagogischen Utopien und Strategien und den Entwicklungen von kollektiver Identität in Zeiten politischer und gesellschaftlicher Umbrüche und Verunsicherungen.

Around 1900, a series of reform movements emerge that break through the mainstream of modern, technocratic and industrial developments, and in many areas of life seek alternative possibilities and new ways. Enthusiastic, open-minded and inspired by an attitude to life that ventures ideologically, artistically and socially into hitherto unknown zones, one wants to oppose the harsh realities to a different, creative, profound and experiential reality. These diverse aspects and their interdisciplinary interweaving often remained hidden in historical retrospectives. In 2018, an exhibition in an art gallery in Budapest titled Hidden Stories - The Life Reform Movements and Art offered unique and surprising insights into the interconnectedness of people and works. In the subsequent conference of the same name, experts from science, art and culture devoted themselves to the hitherto little-known relationships between artists and individual reform movements. The resulting volume reveals and presents the international effectiveness of artists from Hungary as well as from other countries, who have shaped a changed attitude to life in the expressions of music, dance and performing arts. In artist colonies, garden centers and educational reform projects, they created specially places that allowed a changed lifestyle. There are always different ideological, religious and spiritual views in the background that are analyzed here.

The public dimension of the body became paramount in the first half of the 20th century, when the image of the modern man, with his virile stereotypes, became a cliché, in strict connection with nation building first and totalitarian ideologies later. Yet, different cultural and educational trends advocated for life reform and liberation of the body. Both the metaphorical and the material body were invested by cultural, religious, political and educational theories and practices with strong links and similarities but also national differences. Thanks to an international scholarly work about body education in ten European countries, this volume allows a wide comparative analysis about life reform; physical education and sport; children’s bodies, emotions, hygiene and (ab)normality.

This volume presents the findings of a years-long research project that examines the post-1945 development of Hungarian educational science, considering related international processes. The book employs a complex theoretical framework, incorporating Eric Voegelin’s concept of political religion, Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of the scientific field, and Rudolf Stichweh’s criteria for scientific disciplines as organizing principles. From a methodological point of view, the volume utilizes a diverse range of approaches, including historical source analysis, prosopography, content analysis, and text mining, which is considered innovative in this field. Through this interdisciplinary approach, the book offers novel insights into the development of Hungarian educational science during the socialist era and after the political transition.

Die Auswirkungen der unterschiedlichen Gesellschaftssysteme auf das Erziehungs- und Bildungswesen und die gravierenden Veränderungen seit der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts stehen im Mittelpunkt dieses Bandes. Aus der Distanz und im kritischen Rückblick auf eine Epoche lassen sich die Gegebenheiten, aber auch die Irrungen und Wirrungen gelassener und gerechter beurteilen. Konstruktion und Wandel der Kindheitsbilder, bildungspolitische Rahmenbedingungen für Schule und Schulreformen sowie Funktionalisierung und Ideologisierung erziehungswissenschaftlicher Positionen und die allmähliche Normalisierung der Disziplin werden grundlegend, vergleichend, länderspezifisch und -übergreifend analysiert. So entsteht ein differenziertes Bild der zeitgeschichtlichen Pädagogik in Mitteleuropa jenseits von Verdammung oder Beschönigung.