The Long Housing Crisis in Hungary from Above and Below

City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 2013 (In)Justice on the Streets: The Long Housing Crisis in Hungary from Above and Below Éva Tessza Udvarhelyi Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1976 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] (IN)JUSTICE ON THE STREETS: THE LONG HOUSING CRISIS IN HUNGARY FROM ABOVE AND BELOW by ÉVA TESSZA UDVARHELYI A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Environmental Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2013 ii © 2013 ÉVA TESSZA UDVARHELYI All rights reserved Print Form iii The manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Psychology in satisfaction of the Dissertation requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Print) Setha Low August 29, 2013. (Signature) Date Chair of Examining Committee (Print) Maureen O'Connor August 29, 2013. (Signature) Date Executive Officer (Print) Michelle Fine (Print) Kim Hopper (Print) Susan Opotow (Print) Mary Taylor Supervisory Committee THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iv Abstract (IN)JUSTICE ON THE STREETS: REPONSES TO THE LONG HOUSING CRISIS IN HUNGARY FROM ABOVE AND BELOW by Éva Tessza Udvarhelyi Adviser: Professor Setha M. Low Hungary today is the only country in the world that has encoded in its constitution the possibility of penalizing homelessness in public spaces. The intensity of criminalization of homelessness in recent years has given rise to a tug-of-war between the ruling party and grassroots activists. This dissertation explores the politics of homelessness in Budapest from three interlocking perspectives, drawing on primary historical sources, social science literature in English and Hungarian, the secondary analysis of a participatory action research project as well as the author’s experiences as a housing rights activist. It will first examine how the state has addressed homelessness as the most extreme manifestation of a severe lack of affordable housing, or “housing poverty,” throughout the 20th century. While the dissertation sheds light on a number of attempts by the state to intervene, it ultimately demonstrates public authorities’ failure to appropriately address the prolonged housing crisis. Second, the dissertation illuminates the role of grassroots efforts in shaping public responses to housing poverty and homelessness from the early 1900s to the present. Revealing a long and largely unknown history of citizen activism for housing and dignity, the dissertation v points out the fragmented nature of these struggles and argues for the need to develop more sustained strategic organizing to achieve housing justice. Thirdly, the dissertation discusses the role of social scientists in advancing progressive social transformation, especially in the field of housing rights, by examining ethnography from below and participatory action research as two different, but equally valuable approaches to engaged social science. In a broader context, while the dissertation identifies moral exclusion as the cultural-ideological underpinning of penal approaches to poverty, it argues that the radical rise of the criminal paradigm is a symptom of a larger social, political and economic crisis of the post-socialist Hungarian state. In terms of new directions, the dissertation identifies the current dominant social construction of homelessness as a major hindrance to challenging the dominant paradigm of management and criminalization. As a result, it argues that a radical redefinition of homelessness is necessary to address housing inadequacy in a just, inclusive and sustainable way. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I strongly believe in the collective creation of reality and although this work carries my name as the sole author, its production has definitely been a team process, with many people contributing in different ways. My heartfelt thanks go to some of the most important among them. First of all, the three members of my dissertation committee, Professors Setha Low, Michelle Fine and Kim Hopper have been very supportive throughout this long process. Professor Low has been a great advisor – firm, critical and supportive. I am grateful that she has accepted me as I am and provided me with an intellectual environment where I could freely pursue my interests. Professor Fine has been instrumental in piquing my interest in participatory action research and also helped me believe that pursuing scholarship rooted in activism is both valuable and useful. Professor Hopper’s work was among the first I read about homeless in the United States, and his probing questions about my idealism and deep commitment to both homeless people and his students have proven invaluable. I would also like to thank the two external readers on my committee, Professor Susan Opotow and Mary Taylor: both provided critical insights and helped shape it in important ways. The fellowship I received from the Center for Place, Culture and Politics at the Graduate Center allowed me to stay in New York while writing up my dissertation (had I stayed in Hungary, this would have taken many, many more years). In addition, the members of the weekly seminar at the Center offered excellent comments on the first draft of Chapter 3. Ruthie Gilmore’s work on the relationship between criminalization and capitalism as well as her unwavering commitment to improving the lives of those affected by criminalization has been an inspiration. I would like to thank Christina Heatherton specifically for directing my attention to Stuart Hall’s work and the notion of authoritarian populism. vii In Hungary, Zoltán Gurály, Jolán Oross and Gábor Gyáni graciously agreed to share some time with me in the winter of 2012 and provided useful advice and insights about the history of homeless organizing and poor people’s movements in Hungary. The Budapest Collection of the Szabó Ervin Library in Budapest has kindly allowed me to use their images of housing poverty and homelessness to illustrate my dissertation. This dissertation is deeply embedded in my experience as a grassroots activist for housing rights and would have been inconceivable without the support and intellectual stimulation provided by fellow activists in both Hungary and the United States. In the US, I would like to thank the founders as well as the current and former activists of Picture the Homeless for showing me a different approach to housing rights – and for changing my life for good. I am deeply indebted to all the members of The City is for All (Budapest) for the work we have done together since 2009 and for being the fierce, brave and inspiring activists that they are. I am especially grateful to the homeless researchers of the Justice on the Streets team: Géza Bene, Tamás Filder, Károly Gadányi, Mária Gadányiné Simon, Gabriella Némedi Lászlóné, Ferenc Sziráki, Sándor Ferenc, Gergely Lőrincz, Linda Kőházi Andrásné, János Jáger, Krisztina Gyureskó, István Petrák, Jenő Keresztes, János Balázsi, Gábor Takács, Zsuzsa Szűcs, Csaba Oszvald. Anna Bende, my housed research partner on the team is a delight to work with and has contributed significantly to the success of the research. Mariann Dósa was extremely helpful in translating Chapter 6 for members of the Justice on the Streets research team and collecting their feedback for me; she also gave in-depth critical comments about the first public draft of the dissertation. I would like to thank Barbara Erős for the interviews she completed with homeless researchers and for generously allowing me to use them for this dissertation. Bálint Misetics’s comments on the final draft were extremely valuable and, as always, I have appreciated his smart and critical insights tremendously. viii I have been living in New York since 2007. Even though I love this city, it has not always been easy for me to be away from home. Without the presence and support of H. Roz Woll, my life here would have been much more difficult. Roz has been the best companion for this journey and is almost singlehandedly responsible for keeping me sane, healthy and connected to the world during the eight months that I spent sitting at my desk in our Harlem apartment, writing away fervently. My work as both a scholar and activist would have been impossible without the support of my family. Ágnes Török, my best friend and adopted sister since high school was my “partner in crime” as we first started to explore the issues of homelessness and public space in 2002, and she has continued to support me in many ways throughout my studies in the US. I am also grateful to Anna Gyorgy, my aunt and comrade, who worked very hard to proofread this text and correct my sometimes crooked English. And finally: Anna Dániel and László Udvarhelyi, my parents. They deserve the greatest thanks for providing such stable support for my work in so many respects: intellectually, emotionally and financially. The first readers of my work, I greatly appreciate their enthusiasm, support and critiques. My father has been an amazing source of information, knowledge and insight, especially with regards to Marxism, social theory and Hungarian history. In addition to volunteering for The City is for All and supporting Justice on the Streets in very tangible ways, my mother has always been there to help me get through a block or dilemma by patiently listening to me and channeling my frustration in constructive directions. While I am grateful for the immense help from all the wonderful people in my life (and many more whom I did not have a chance to name here), it is important to note that I alone bear responsibility for all of the contents – and also possible errors – of this dissertation.

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