Politics in Hungary: For a Democratic Alternative [antikvár]

Preface to the SeriesThe present volume is a component of a series that, when completed, will constitute a comprehensive survey of the many aspects of East Central European society.These volumes deal with the peoples whose homelands lie between the Cermans to the West, the Russians to the East and North, and the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas to the South. They constitute a particular civilization, one that is at once an integral part of Europe, yet substantially different from the West. The area is characterized by rich variety in language, religion, and government. The study of this complex subject demands a multidisciplinary approach and, accordingly, our contributors represent several academic disciplines. They have been drawn from universities and other scholarly institutions in the United States, Western Europe, as well as East Central Europe. The author of the present book is a distinguished philosopher, a leading personality in the Hungarian democratic opposition, and the editor of Beszélő, the samizdat journal published in Budapest.The Editor-in-Chief, of course, takes full responsibility for ensuring the comprehensiveness, cohesion, internal balance, and scholarly quality of the series he has launched. I cheerfully accept this responsibility and intend this work to be neither a justification nor a condemnation of the policies, attitudes, and activities of any of the persons involved. At the same time, because the contributors represent so many different disciplines, interpretations, and schools of thought, our policy in this, as in past and future volumes, is to present their contributions without modification.B. K. K.