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Paper short abstract

Authoritarianism, welfare cuts, and the stigmatization of already marginalized social groups prompted a wide array of acts of solidarity in Hungary since 2015. The paper examines the social justice imaginaries and micro-infrastructures of solidarity actors across diverse spatial contexts.

Paper long abstract

Since the right-wing-populist Fidesz-KDNP government entered power in 2010, it has transformed Hungary into a workfare (Szikra 2019; Scheiring, 2020; Scheiring and Szombati, 2020) and carefare regime (Fodor, 2022; Gregor and Verebes, 2023). Welfare cuts, as well as workfare and familist-pronatalist had been introduced, and specific social groups in need of care, such as homeless people and refugees, have been stigmatized and criminalized (Udvarhelyi, 2013; Ágh, 2015; Szikra et al., 2020; Fodor, 2022; Vidra and Messing, 2025). People enacting grassroots solidarity care for people affected by welfare cuts and marginalization have been targeted with funding cuts, hostile media campaigns, and legal changes (Ágh, 2015; Kapitány, 2019; Szikra et al., 2020). Democratic backsliding and the rolling back of welfare provisions, as well as the stigmatization of already marginalized social groups, prompted the participation of many people in solidarity acts. We argue that these are not merely acts of social protection against an oppressive state, but also include imaginaries of a “liveable provisional life” (Berlant 2016, 395). The aim of the paper is to study the social justice imaginaries and micro-infrastructures of solidarity actors across diverse spatial contexts, based on our fieldwork in the capital city, a large town, a small town, and three villages in Hungary. The research is based on ethnographic work (interviews and participant observation) with 20 civil groups that engage in acts of solidarity on issues of education, social care, housing, and legal aid, focusing on Roma people, refugees, people affected by housing poverty, and gender-based violence.