ECPR statement on Hungarian government's decision to discontinue Gender Studies in Hungary

The Hungarian government has announced that it wants to discontinue Master’s degrees in Gender Studies in Hungary.

This would affect Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) and Central European University (CEU), the only institutions in the country offering this degree. We understand that the universities were not consulted in advance, and were asked to respond to the plan within 24 hours.

The European Consortium for Political Research wants to express its deepest concern about this plan. Gender studies is an internationally recognised discipline that produces novel knowledge. This field of study conducts demographical, historical, anthropological, philosophical, cultural, sociological and political analyses that deepen our knowledge. Gender studies has indeed become an established multi-disciplinary area of research and teaching in the social sciences. The teaching of gender studies is therefore an important contribution to the understanding of the dynamics of and the power relations in our society.

The ECPR is home to a large and vibrant community of scholars engaged in gender studies. We urge the Hungarian government not to pursue these plans and to permit universities in Hungary to continue with their MA programmes in Gender Studies, allowing them also to remain fully part of the international community of scholars of gender and diversity, where they are held in high regard.

  @StandWithCEU

Keywords: Europe (Central and Eastern), Gender, Freedom