Post-transformational Trends in Hungarian Sport (1995-2004)

• Authors: Gyöngyi Földesi
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The radical political and economic changes of 1989-1990 in Hungary affected all societal subsystems. In sport there was neither revolution from below nor relevant reforms from above prior to the regime change. The aim of this paper is to present the further development that are the post-transformational trends in Hungarian sport. The topic is approached from modernization perspectives. The information for the study was gained by various methods, such as analysis of documents, in-depth interviews, and participant observation. The results are analysed by three major dimensions: over-politicization, re-centralization, and paternalism. The findings show that the changes in sport were undergone in a very controversial manner, they were rather incremental than discontinuous. Neither a modernized sport model nor a national sport strategy on the basis of which a new model should have been built was founded. In Hungarian sport there seems to be an aversion and resistance to modernization. In conclusion the author states that Hungarian sport won a few battles, but it lost the war. A more democratic and a truly modern turnaround in the institution of sport is still expected. The transformation of Hungarian sport is continuing.

Keywords

EN

modernization; over-politicization; re-centralization; paternalism; participant observation

• Publisher: De Gruyter Open
• Journal: Physical Culture and Sport. Studies and Research
• Year: 2009
• Volume: 46
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 137-146

Dates

published

1 - 12 - 2009

online

31 - 12 - 2009

Contributors

author

Gyöngyi Földesi

• Faculty of Sport and Physical Education Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

References

• Bakonyi, T. (2004). PhD Thesis. Civil Demokrácia és politikus állam. Budapest: Semmelweis University.
• Dahrendorf, R. (1990). Reflection on the Revolution in Europe. London: Chatto and Windus.
• Diamond, L. (1994). Rethinking Civil Society. Journal of Democracy. 5:3, pp. 15-17.
• Földesi, S. G. (1993). The Transformation of Sport in Eastern Europe: The Hungarian Case. Journal of Comparative Physical Education and Sport. XV:1, pp. 5-21.
• Földesiné, Sz. Gy. (1996). A magyar sport átalakulása az 1989-1990-es rendszerváltás után. In Földesiné Sz. Gy. (szerk.): A magyar sport szellemi körképe. Budapest: OTSH-MOB, pp. 13-52.
• Frenkl, R., Gallow, R. (2002). Fehér könyv. Helyzetkép a magyar sportról. Kézirat.
• Fromm, E. (1993). menekülés a szabadságtól. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.
• Heinemann, K. (1990). Two Different Models of Sport for All in a New Germany: Contradictions and Synergy. In XI. USP Congress Perugia, December 6-9.
• Hédi, Cs., Földesi Sz. Gy. (2004). Sport Structures in Hungary. In Tokarski, W. et al. (Eds.) Two Players One Goal? Sport in the European Union. Aachen: Meyer und Meyer Verlag, pp. 169-183.
• Ibsen, B., Jorgensen (2001). The Cultural and the Voluntary Development of Sport for All in Denmark. In Da Costa, L., Miragaya, A. (Eds.) Worldwide Experiences and Trends in Sport for All. Meyer und Meyer Verlag, Aachen, pp. 293-322.
• Krawczyk, Z. (1992). Sport in the Era of Structural Changes: the Example of Eastern Europe. International Review for the Sociology of Sport. 1, pp. 89-97.
• Krawczyk, Z., Kosiewicz, J., Pieat, K. (1997). (Eds.) Sport w procesie integracji europejskiej. Warszawa: AWF.
• Laskai, Z. (2003). Állam és civil társadalom viszonya. Politikatudományi füzetek. 12, pp. 3-35.
• Riordan, J. (1989). Szabadidősport és rekreáció a Szovjetunióban a glasznoszty idején. Testnevelés és Sporttudomány. 4, pp. 287-301.
• Riordan, J. (1990). Playing the New Rules: Soviet Sport and Perestroika. 42, p. 133.
• Takács, F. (1996). Testkultúránk aktuális problémái a rendszerváltás után. In Földesi, S. G. (szerk.) A magyar sport szellemi körképe. Budapest: OTSH-MOB.

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/v10141-009-0012-2