Autobiographical Sketches: Answers to questions posed by the journal International Political Anthropology

Ivan Szelenyi is a distinguished Hungarian political sociologist who made much of his career in Western countries. Here, he gives an autobiographical insight into his childhood and early adulthood which were impregnated by different regimes in wartime and post-World War II Hungary. Whilst many myths might decorate the outbreaks of the Hungarian revolution in 1956, Szelenyi’s account of how he lived the night of the first day of the Hungarian revolution in October provides a sense of sobering realism, showing the real-life choices to be made even when the whole is in turmoil. In spite of his tendency to be a “loner” and preferences to stand aside, he claims having committed his career to giving a voice to the voiceless. Defining himself as an engaged outsider, Szelenyi can straddle deep political interests and the lack of emotional bonds with political movement. Against Feuerbach and Marx, Szelenyi answers with a Weberian statement that understanding the world is a very worthwhile task.