Nacionalist Subculture and Community-Building – The Hatvannégy Vármegye Ifjúsági Mozgalom in Transylvania

The paper analyzes the structure of the Hatvannégy Vármegye Ifjúsági Mozgalom (HVIM), a radical right-wing youth subculture of the Hungarian minority in Romania and it’s position in the Romanian social and political field. On 1st December 2015, right before the Romanian national holiday, the main Romanian counter-terrorist agency has arrested the local head of the HVIM in Târgu-Secuiesc. After a few weeks the regional head of the network has been arrested as well. The locals interpreted these actions as an open abuse of power against the Hungarian minority from the part of the Romanian state, so they organized daily protests against the use and abuse of power and provocation in the entire area of Szeklerland. In the paper – based on an anthropological fieldwork – I show the everyday social and political practices between the Romanian authorities, the Hungarian parties from Transylvania and the members of the radical right-wing organization, and the ways in which they are embedded in the local community, where the HVIM has a charitable and civic activity.

Released: Replika 105, 165–189.
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