From depoliticization to politicization: three periods of thinking politically with Carl Schmitt in Hungary

The article connects the much discussed recent political developments in Hungary under Viktor Orbán with the dynamics between depoliticization and politicization guiding the local reception of Carl Schmitt's works. Recent developments in Hungarian politics have been widely researched, but mostly without giving due attention to political thinking. The article argues that the reception of Schmitt's works, both in academia and in public discourse, has significantly influenced political thinking in Hungary throughout the 20th century and in recent decades. By reading the history of reception, the article aims to confirm that depoliticization and politicization are not diametrically opposed in the sense that the former stands for the elimination of politics. Rather, depoliticization and politicization follow from each other, as Schmitt himself described the impossibility of neutralizing politics. Beginning with the 1920s, this article examines three periods of Schmitt's reception and shows that, after attempts of depoliticization, Schmitt was increasingly acknowledged as an author who argues for an overtly politicized account of politics. In terms of political thinking, this last development has defined the context of Hungarian politics since the 2010s.