Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1983 (11. évfolyam, 35-38. szám)

1983 / 35-36. szám

policy today can be properly seen as neo-conservative. The neo-conservative policy does not exclude any political change, nor does it create an unequivocal situation, but it rejects basic institutional reforms which may affect the structure of political power.. .There is no evidence, up to the time of this writing of an appearance of political pluralism in Hungary today, nor would it be tolerated by the party unless apocalyptic changes would sweep away the present power configuration.” The author does see a general downward trend but no severe crisis in the Hungarian economy. Whether the new policies will succeed or not will depend on both, internal and external factors. The author is assoc, prof, at Eastern Michigan U. □

Tomka, Miklós “A Balance of Secularization in Hungary.” Social Compact 28:1 (1981) 25-42.

While there seems to be evidence that the political leadership of Hungary is aware of the large number of religious persons in the population, there is little hard dataon just how large this group is and how many are only passive spectators rather than active participants. Observers say that about 2/3 of the adult population participates in one religious rite or another. However, the need for such participation does mean neither compliance with church rules and requirements nor regularity in worship. In fact, less than 1/5 of the adult population is believed to attend church on Sundays, very few (some 10 to 12% of the children baptized) take first communion, and even fewer receive religious instruction. The elderly, the unemployed, the untrained/and the rural population are believed to be more active than others. It is also believed that among those declaring themselves as religious, the ratio of Roman Catholics is increasing, that of the Protestants is decreasing, in general, the barriers between denominations seem to have weakened in recent years, perhaps as the result of government pressure equally applied against all denominations. The author believes that the decline in religiousness is not a one-track lineal development, an “either/or” choice, but rather an accommodation of persons on the entire spectrum of religiousness, atheism, and neutrality.

The same issue contains A Selected Bibliography of Sociological Studies on Religion in Hungary (1945-1979), compiled by the same author and comprising some 161 entries (pp. 125-141.) The article itself was presented at the 1979 Dubrovnik Summer Course under the title of The Future of Religion, and was reprinted in the July 1979 issue of Valóság, under the title A szekularizáció mérlege. □

URAL-ALTAISCHE JAHRBÜCHER (Ural-Altaic Yearbooks)

53 (1981). 172 pages. Eds. Gyula Décsy and A.J.E. Bodrogligeti. Distributed by Eurolingua, P.O. Box 101, Bloomington, IN 47402. Single volume $60.00 paper ($48.00 in subscription).

ibid. 54 (1982). 172 pages. Eds. Gyula Décsy and A.J.E. Bodrogligeti. Distributed by Eurolingua, P.O. Box 101, Bloomington, IN 47402. Single volume $60.00 paper ($48.00 in subscription).

These two volumes measure up favorably to the excellent reputation of their predecessors. The two volumes together contain 13 majorarticles, 24 reportson scholarly events, and 45 bookreviews. In general, more items are in English than in previous years. In vol. 53 Bodrogligeti presents a glossary to the Ryland Eastern Turkic-Persian vocabulary; Ralph Jaeckel discusses recently discovered notes of the late Turcologist János Eckmann; Lajos Kazár writes on Japanese-Uralic

NO. 35-36, SPRING-SUMMER 1983 HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER

morphological parallels; Walter L. Magnusson on language diversity and logic. The HSN (no. 31/32, p. 9) has already reported on Miklós Kontra’s and Gregory L. Nehler’s paper on ethnic designations used by Hungarian-Americans in South Bend, Indiana. One of the two German articles was written by Decsy, the other by Eva Martins. In vol. 54 Bodrogligeti again leads the four English articles. His is on Muhammad Shay bani’s Bahru'l-hudá: An early 16th century didactic Qasida in Chagatay: Karl Inno has a study on Aestii, the Estonians, and the origin of Eesti; Melvin J. Luthy writes on a comparative generative-junction approach to Finnish Morphosyntax; and John Soper presents a critical review of the Uzbek-English dictionary. Décsy continues his linguistic meanings and Attila Fáj describes a new “key” to Finnegans Wake, the last work of James Joyce. Of the 24 reports 13 are in English, and of the 45 bookreviews 25 are in English providing the reader with critical reviews of books written in various languages. De'csy is prof, of linguistics at Indiana U., and Bodrogligeti is prof, of Altaic studies at the U. of California, Los Angeles. □

Varga, Csaba. “Towards a Sociological Concept of Law: An Analysis of Lukács’ Ontology.” Internatinal Journal fo the Sociology of Law 9 (1981) 159-176.

According to the author, Lukács believed that Marxist legal theory can become a general theory of law only if it assesses the present as transitional (historical view), if the contemporary European socialist law is considered as one of several alternatives (comparative approach), and if the law reflects actual behavior, not desiderata or ideal (sociological approach). To him law is a practical category which “is not decided by its enactment as law but by its practical realization as such.” Law can be effective when its essence is accepted by the people and when it is in harmony with the spirit or ideology of other institutions of the society. Because legal norms are organized into systems they must be “coherent, consistent, and contradiction-free” in the total context of culture. For Lukács “the prevailing total context remains the decisive factor.” Interestingly, Lukács never came in contact with the legal profession, a fact which, according to the author, enabled him to see law with “cool detachment,” in its application. The author is member of the Institute of Legal and Administrative Sciences of HAS. Two related articles have appeared recently by the same author: “The Concept of Law in Lukacs’ Ontology” in Rechtstheorie 10 (1979) 321 - 337; and “Beitrage zu den Beziehungen zwischen Gustav Radbruch und Georg Lukács” in ARSP (International Society of Legal and Social Philosophy) 67 (1981) 253-259 (in German). □

Vincze, Lajos. “Peasant Herding Associations in Hungary and Romania,” in The Keeping of Animals: Adaptation and Social Relations in Livestock Producing Communities, ed.

by Riva Berleant-Schiller and Eugenia Shanklin. Allanheld, Osmund & Co., 81 Adams Drive, Totowa, NJ 07512, 1983. Pages 37-55.

While it is true that peasant communities are often characterized by envy, suspicion, and distrust, peasants in certain lines of production depend on each other, e.g., in wine growing or livestock raising as done in Hungary. It is not very constructive, therefore, to ask whether peasants are cooperative or individualistic, but rather ask for the kind of economic, social, and ecological factors that would bring about one orthe other type of behavior. When the household

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