Eva Fodor

From Democracy in Question? by Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy

January 14, 2026 · 49 min · Season 11 · Episode 5

About this episode

The episode discusses Hungary's illiberal regime and its gender politics through Éva Fodor's analysis.

This episode explores how Hungary’s illiberal, soft authoritarian regime and its controversial gender politics and policies are intertwined. Drawing on Éva Fodor’s analysis of the regime’s distinctive features, it examines its pronatalist and ethnonationalist agenda, as well as what she terms the “carefare” policy. How do attacks on gender – including those targeting academic freedom – connect to the vicious attacks against LGBTQI and trans community in Hungary? In what ways is Hungarian pronatalism premised on the internal exclusion of the marginalized Roma population? Why are conservatives and authoritarians, not only in Hungary, so fearful of what they call “gender ideology”? Tune in to hear Éva Fodor unpack Viktor Orbán’s old and new strategies to secure the regime and advance an ethnonationalist agenda – strategies that have been emulated by the US and other countries.

People in this episode

Guest: Éva Fodor

Topics covered

illiberal regime
gender politics
pronatalism
ethnonationalism
LGBTQI rights
academic freedom
carefare policy

Keywords

Hungary
illiberal regime
gender politics
pronatalism
ethnonationalism
LGBTQI
Roma
carefare
Viktor Orbán

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Viktor Orbán, LGBTQI, Roma, US

Places: Hungary