Hungarian Prime Minister Proposes Ban of Gender Studies

The government of Hungary has proposed a ban of gender studies programs from universities.

Officially, the proposal comes for economic reasons, following the claim that there are no opportunities for gender studies graduates as there is no current need in society. “There is no economic rationale for studies such as these, and so we have reason to presume that it was not created in response to labor market needs, nor to furnish students with skills that can be readily and directly converted on the labor market,” a Hungarian government spokesman, said.

However, some suspect hidden motives behind the decision. Fidesz of the Hungarian Civic Alliance, a national-conservative right-wing populist political party, has dominated national and local politics for a decade. So the conservative government might be lead not by student interests, but by ideological ideals.

“A recent proposal drafted by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Human Capacities touches upon the future of Gender Studies in Hungary,” the Central European Union University (CEU) said. The CEU would be directly affected by the proposal. The CEU supports academic freedom and rejects any attempt at censoring academic curricula.

This opposition is not new, as officials in Germany, Poland and Russia already spoke up against gender studies programs, pointing out financial wastes and comparing it to “fake sciences” and “pseudosciences”.

By Antoine Dewaest

Photo: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images May 2018