Mapping the Post-communist Class Structure: Findings from a New Multidimensional Hungarian Class Survey

Abstract

In this article, we define a schema for the class structure of Hungary, in which we consider a case for an Eastern-European capitalist system emerging from post-communist societies. Our schema is based on the findings of the Hungarian Class Survey, 2014. Using six measures of Bourdieusian economic, cultural, and social capital and applying the methodology of latent class analysis (LCa), we have constructed a model of eight LCa-based classes: upper class, cultural middle class, affluent middle class, young urban consumers, network-embedded rural workers, young drifters, middle-aged deprived, and the precariat. Hungarian society seems to be quite hierarchical but is also fragmented within the upper and lower strata. Status inconsistency in terms of possessing economic, cultural, and social capital is strongly present even for the middle XXX10.1177/0888325417739954East European Politics and SocietiesAlbert et al. / Mapping the Post-communist Class Structure research-article2017 2 East European Politics and Societies and Cultures classes. There is a clear divide in our class model between the upper four and the lower four classes, in terms of vertical and nonvertical aspects of social stratification. We also compare our new multidimensional class typology to the traditional occupation-based one and demonstrate its added value for class analysis in Hungary.

Hungarian version of the Family Relationship Questionnaire (FRQ)

“…did not load well. The Hungarian society tends to have a larger lower class and a much smaller upper class or elite with relatively small social mobility (Albert et al, 2018). For parents of lower or middle class, it can be assumed that rearing the child to become 'posh' is not a relevant parenting goal.…”

Regional Patterns of Social Differentiation in Visegrád Countries

“…The importance of studying social stratification in the Visegrad region is supported by numerous recent studies published by Czech [Lux, Sunega and Katrňák 2013;Katrňák and Fónadová 2014;Drahokoupil 2015;Špaček 2016], Hungarian [Albert et al 2018;Kmetty et al 2018], Polish [Zarycki 2015;Domański 2017;Titarenko 2019], and Slovak [Bunčák, Hrabovská and Sopóci 2018a, 2018bDžambazovič, Gerbery and Sopóci 2018;Sopóci et al 2019] scholars. While these studies focus primarily on single countries, we contribute to the existing literature by describing the trend in social differentiation across all four Visegrád countries.…”

“…the period of the 'departure from social origins' in connection with the educational expansion and cohort replacement that occurred after 2000. Social stratification in Hungary was recently studied by Albert et al [2018], who describe Hungarian society as quite hierarchical and yet fragmented within the upper and lower strata; the upper and lower strata being clearly divided in terms of the vertical and non-vertical aspects of social stratification. Income inequalities in Hungary increased substantially during the 1990s, mainly due to labour market changes [OECD 2008].…”

“…Their subsequent accession to numerous international organisations, in particular the European Union in 2004, affected these societies in distinct ways. A large amount of research on social stratification targeting these countries has been undertaken, with most studies focusing on the vertical dimension of the phenomenon [on the Visegrád countries, see, e.g., Bunčák and Harmadyová 1993;Machonin and Tuček 1994;Wasilewski 1995;Townsley and Eyal 1995;Domański 1996Domański , 2005; Róna-Tas, Bunčák and Harmadyová 1999;Sopóci 2000;Róbert and Bukodi 2004;Katrňák and Fučík 2010;Katrňák and Fónadová 2014;Bunčák et al 2016;Albert et al 2018;. Vertical stratification expressed via class relationships differentially affects the opportunities and outlooks of individuals, shapes their material interests, and influences their possession of economic assets.…”

Élelmiszerfogyasztás és kulturális tőke : Egy formálódó habitus nyomában

“…A kultúrafogyasztást a korábbi kutatásainkhoz hasonlóan itt is a szabadidős tevékenységek faktorokba rendezése alapján mértük (Albert et al 2017. A szabadidő-eltöltési szokásokból faktorelemzés segítségével három kultúrafogyasztási formát: a magaskultúra, a popkultúra és a helyi kultúra fogyasztását különítettük el.…”