Magyar szociológiatörténeti füzetek, 2. (Budapest, 1986)

Summary

SUMMARY

János Gyurgyák: The Oeuvre of Karl Polanyi

It is certain that Karl Polanyi ranks among the most famous Hungarian social scientists; perhaps only Georg Lukács, Karl Mannheim, Géza Róheim, Leopold Szondi and his brother Michael Polanyi compete with his reputation. His thoughts have remained alive, as it is testified by the repeated editions of his works and by the ungoing debate around his intellectual legacy. He has become a classic in the field of economic anthropology, but his views on ideology, economic theory and economic history have been heavily disputed by Hungarian and Western scholars.

"What I became I became in my homeland. Hungarian lives have given meaning to my life. When I erred, others payed for it here. The good I have strived for, should be realized here. What little I have given to the world, should come home" - he wrote in one of his reminiscences. Let us, then, survey this scene: the publication of his works, the reception of his ideas in Hungary and - in general - how his intellectual legacy, has found its way home.

It was in the 1960s that historical and literary research "discovered" the intellectual movements at the turn of the 20th century, especially the radical bourgeois and the socialist ideologies. This was how the first president and forceful orator of the Galilei Circle came

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