Modernity and Masculinity: Hungary in the Civilizing Process

The talk is planned to be about how masculine dispositions changed in the course of the civilizing process, and how a major drive for change – modern man – was born in the 18-19th century. On the basis of Hungarian data it is intended to point to some universal traits of this process. The overriding thesis is that masculine behavioural patterns were channelled into new directions: the drive to fight, to kill the enemy was gradually built upon by competitive and, later, by co-operative dispositions. It is argued that various existential conditions produce different habituses, which can be transferred to diverse areas of practice. Consequently, sports – horse racing, rowing, gymnastics, turnen and athletics – might be regarded as indicators that show the changing behavioural patterns of different social groups.

Miklos Hadas has a PhD in sociology from the Hungarian Academy of Science and is Professor of sociology and co-director of the Centre for Gender and Culture at Corvinus University, Budapest. Between 1990 and 2002 he was the founding editor-in-chief of Replika, a leading Hungarian journal of social sciences. He is author of numerous articles on gender and masculinity and of A modern ferfi szuletese (The Birth of Modern Man, Budapest: Helikon, 2003). This book was awarded the Polanyi Prize, i.e. considered, by the Hungarian Sociological Association, to be the best sociological book of the year.