Resisting the mindless minions of orthodoxy!!
by Lucie Janotová
It is December 1st, 2018. After months of attacks, the Central European University in Budapest is waiting for a miracle: that an increasingly authoritarian Hungarian government will allow its continuous presence on its territory. If it does not, the forced exile of CEU will be the biggest assault on academic freedoms in Europe since the Oslo University closure by the Nazis in 1943.
As a reaction to this uncertain waiting, a student movement emerges but this is no ordinary protest. Building their own “Free University” (“Szabad Egyetem”) right below the Parliament windows, these students reclaim the very space traditionally belonging to the authoritarian force. In a country where academic subjects are banned, the majority of media captured, and more money is spent on sport stadiums than academia, this movement subverts governmental propaganda through performances, tournaments, lectures and film screenings, helping to revive a dormant civil…
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