IDEAS Insights Hungary's Social Enterprise Landscape | Page 11

Please note all photographs used are published under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA-3.0 license. They are
the outcome of archival research by the writer for this Insight.
Fig 1: The Danube River, 1963
Source: FORTEPAN/GYULA NAGY (from 1963)

Author’s note: This image from 1963 was selected as it captures the ruptured
continuity theme of this Insight, with the pieces of ice floating on the Danube.
Two people stand over and watch the river, symbolising the lack of individual
agency – especially in the realm of economic activity – that’s defined Hungary
for a long time.
Fig. 2: Rural couple at a cooperative, 1930.
Source: FORTEPAN/FORTEPAN
Fig. 3: A Hungarian bus stop in 1952, at the height of Stalinism
Source: FORTEPAN/MAGYAR RENDOR

Author’s note: This snapshot of urban rush – with two women waiting for the
bus to pass by – was taken in 1952, which marked the peak of Hungary’s own
Stalinist-style dictatorship. The photograph displays a peculiar contrast between
the harsh political climate and everyday life, whilst also capturing the way
modernity is beginning to take over and replace agricultural production, the
essence of the ‘old’ Hungarian economy.
Fig. 4: A school child learning to use the Abacus, 1949
Source: FORTEPAN/MARTON ERNO KOVACS
Fig. 5: Women working at a data processing centre in Budapest, 1979
Source: FORTEPAN/SANDOR BAUER

Author’s note: Juxtaposing this image with the previous selection of the rural
family, the country’s transformation becomes apparent, as women are escaping
their conventional environment and work autonomously in a modern,
technologically equipped facility.
Fig. 6: Workers walking barefoot down a dirt road, 1923
Source: FORTEPAN/LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Author’s note: Happiness can be found in everyday human struggles to survive;
this photo genuinely captures the ‘Hungarian experience’.
9