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Paper short abstract

This paper presents a comparative analysis of caring communities in Austria and Hungary, focusing on their development, institutional integration, and social and political implications of different welfare and governance regimes.

Paper long abstract

This paper presents a comparative analysis of caring communities in Austria and Hungary, focusing on their development, institutional integration, and social and political implications of different welfare and governance regimes. Caring communities are understood as locally rooted, often neighborhood-based initiatives that support the autonomy, empowerment, and social participation of older adults through collective learning. In Austria, caring communities have been established for more than a decade and are explicitly integrated into long-term care policies. Supported by public funding schemes and municipal involvement, these initiatives foster a democratic co-creation process (Wegleitner et al., 2026). In contrast, care policies in Hungary do not address community-oriented initiatives; instead, the authoritarian neoliberal state promotes unsupported familism and the centralization of public care services. However, civil society organizations often facilitate community initiatives that may shape local attitudes and may challenge traditional understandings of care. The paper raises questions about civil society engagement as a key facilitator of local care landscapes, the impacts of shrinking welfare capacities, and the critique of community-based initiatives. Based on qualitative research methods, including participatory fieldwork, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups, the analysis explores how stakeholders negotiate their roles at the local level and how older people’s living conditions may improve as a result of these initiatives. The comparison underscores how differing policy frameworks and political environments shape the transformative potential of caring communities.