Hungarian psychology in context. Reclaiming the past

Abstract

The “contextualizing” and “internationalizing” of the history of psychology is an ongoing project, however, Central Europe, as a coherent perspective, and the history of Hungarian psychology specifically, is acutely missing in current surveys of international psychology, and more broadly, in “western consciousness”. This paper is an attempt at presenting a comprehensive, socially and politically contextualized framework of the history of Hungarian psychology, from its beginnings until the fall of communism. The paper situates the history of psychology in the history of Hungary since without this broader background Hungarian psychology cannot be treated as a contextualized phenomenon. Reconstructing the history of Hungarian psychology is, at the same time, reclaiming the past, since continuity with, and remembrance of the past was once forcefully obstructed by the communist regime, and the effects proved to be long lasting. Hungarian psychology was, in part, a genuine “extension” of psychology as it developed in Germany and more broadly in Europe, but also a unique and remarkable phenomenon greatly shaped by specific socio-political context. Scholarship on the history of Hungarian psychology is growing fast, but the richness of this history has yet to be more fully explored and appreciated, inside and outside of Hungary.