Expanding Borders: Creating Latitude for Hungarian-Minority Autonomy within Transylvania, Romania, and a New Europe

Abstract

<p>This dissertation outlines the dynamic between the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians (DAHR) - the political party representing the Hungarian minority in Romania - and the state. This elite-based research locates itself directly within political theories of minority rights and attempts to deepen an understanding of how politics intersects with culture. Of theoretical import to this study is the tension created by certain cultural constituencies within a nation-state for recognition that might be politically codified. By outlining the political implications of recognizing territorially-based national minorities, this dissertation argues that minority claims and democratic consolidation are interrelated rather than competing processes.</p> <p>Hungarian political discourse reveals contested notions of citizenship and belonging in Romania. Hungarian claims for autonomy within Romania are directed toward changing traditional bases of legitimacy based on ethnicity. Importantly, these claims for autonomy are framed explicitly as 'democratic claims'. At the heart of these discussions is an attempt to create a place for the Hungarian minority within rather than excluded from the Romanian state. To do so, however, requires that the terms of inclusion and exclusion in Romania be reconceived. Toward this end, the Hungarian minority situates their claims within the global processes already impacting state sovereignty in Romania. A discussion of autonomy is therefore simultaneously a discussion of the changing relations of power inflecting this sovereignty. By engaging international bodies, namely the European Union, Hungarian politicians have placed pressure on the state to devolve powers to the regions. The 'recognition' of Hungarian claims by international bodies has increased the legitimacy of these claims within Romania - highlighting how global forces can be used to further democratic goals within states.</p>