The College for Advanced Studies in Social Theory ( hu, Társadalomelméleti Kollégium, ''TEK'') is the oldest independent college of leftist-intellectual orientation at

Corvinus University of Budapest Corvinus University of Budapest ( hu, Budapesti Corvinus Egyetem) is a university in Budapest, Hungary. The university currently has an enrolment of approximately 9,600 students, with a primary focus on business administration, economics, and so ...

as well as in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

History

TEK is the second oldest, still operating, college in Hungary. It was founded in 1981 by young researchers and students. Its orientation can be divided into two parts: vocational work and community life. The first is well documented, the latter is somewhat more distorted, due to the effects of

collective memory Collective memory refers to the shared pool of memories, knowledge and information of a social group that is significantly associated with the group's identity. The English phrase "collective memory" and the equivalent French phrase "la mémoire c ...

1981–present

TEK seceded from the first established college in Hungary, the

Rajk László College for Advanced Studies Rajk College for Advanced Studies ( hu, Rajk Szakkollégium) is an educational institution offering advanced courses in the fields of economics, business and social sciences. The College is a self governing community of about 100 selected student ...

. However, in the beginning - before the fall of the Iron Curtain - the College's main topic was the reinterpretation of

Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 p ...

's ouvre, since liberal and alternative thinking was only possible if it was related to Marxist studies. With the fall of the iron curtain, this coercion disappeared, and since the College's main profile was its diversity and openness to new ideas, philosophies and theories, the College's profile now freely and rapidly ramified into diverse - and pioneering among the Hungarian colleges at that time - topics:

environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seek ...

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

postmodernism Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or Rhetorical modes, mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by philosophical skepticism, skepticis ...

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...

, postmarxism,

sociolinguistics Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any or all aspects of society, including cultural Norm (sociology), norms, expectations, and context (language use), context, on the way language is used, and society's effect on languag ...

phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...

post-structuralism Post-structuralism is a term for philosophical and literary forms of theory that both build upon and reject ideas established by structuralism, the intellectual project that preceded it. Though post-structuralists all present different critique ...

Buddhist economics Buddhist economics is a spiritual and philosophical approach to the study of economics. It examines the psychology of the human mind and the emotions that direct economic activity, in particular concepts such as anxiety, aspirations and self-ac ...

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, sociology of minorities,

queer studies Queer studies, sexual diversity studies, or LGBT studies is the education of topics relating to sexual orientation and gender identity usually focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender dysphoria, asexual, queer, questioning, inte ...

postcolonialism Postcolonialism is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic legacy of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and exploitation of colonized people and their lands. More specifically, it is a ...

network theory Network theory is the study of graphs as a representation of either symmetric relations or asymmetric relations between discrete objects. In computer science and network science, network theory is a part of graph theory: a network can be defi ...

. The College also dealt with the topic of

squatting Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

, the sociological causes of

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

and since the establishment the farmost detailed analysis of

critical theory A critical theory is any approach to social philosophy that focuses on society and culture to reveal, critique and challenge power structures. With roots in sociology and literary criticism, it argues that social problems stem more from soci ...

Frankfurt school The Frankfurt School (german: Frankfurter Schule) is a school of social theory and critical philosophy associated with the Institute for Social Research, at Goethe University Frankfurt in 1929. Founded in the Weimar Republic (1918–1933), dur ...

among other colleges.

Philosophical principles

Criticism

TEK is providing a critical approach to the economical theories that Corvinus University has in its educational program– among others, focusing on the social inequalities

human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include m ...

structuralism In sociology, anthropology, archaeology, history, philosophy, and linguistics, structuralism is a general theory of culture and methodology that implies that elements of human culture must be understood by way of their relationship to a broader ...

neoliberalism Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

, functionalism,

corporatism Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...

inherently bares -. TEK is also involved in highly regarded green activism, such as

critical mass In nuclear engineering, a critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The critical mass of a fissionable material depends upon its nuclear properties (specifically, its nuclear fissi ...

gay pride LGBT pride (also known as gay pride or simply pride) is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to sham ...

, many flashmobs, that are held in support of promoting a livable environment. Among the members of TEK are also permanent supporters of the anti- g8 anti-

g20 The G20 or Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, ...

demonstrations.

Commune

TEK started a lifestyle experiment, by establishing - again firstly - the habit of an annual

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

, in which the members apply voluntarily. These communes give the participants the opportunity to experience such a lifestyle that is hard to experience among European

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

societies. In these communities the members share all goods, live together in one place creating a highly tied community of a few.

Aims

TEK’s main aim is a critical approach to the topics taught in Corvinus University. TEK is more of a theoretical college, putting theoretical approaches to the questions of the society in front of bare statistical analysis, processing of data. However members of TEK – individually - are highly involved in diverse fields of practice – e.g. organizing conferences on behalf of the homeless, many voluntary work promoting the reintegration of gypsies into the labour market, helping the educational development of those from less developed areas -.

Vocational work

Tutorials

The base of the vocational work in TEK are the annual or semi-annual Tutorials. The topics of these Tutorials are given by the members of the College, which Tutorials are to be held by the tutors after compiling a schedule. The participants analyse, discuss the literature together with the tutor. As a conclusion, at the end of every tutorial, the participants are to hand in an essay of one of the topics that were discussed during the Tutorial. The main frame for the Tutorials are based on 5 main fields:

political economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...

, economics of

globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

, Frankfurt School,

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

and

ethical Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...

economics, postmodern sociology. Every fresher has to participate in the Ground Tutorial, which provides a brief insight to the work and schedule of all five fields.

Related works

Fordulat
(meaning “pivot” or “revolution”) is the official periodical of the College, dealing with many critical and however yet not mainstream, but pioneering topics.

Conferences

Among many others,

Claus Offe Claus Offe (born 16 March 1940 in Berlin) is a political sociologist of Marxist orientation. He received his PhD from the University of Frankfurt and his Habilitation at the University of Konstanz. In Germany, he has held chairs for Political Sci ...

, one of the leading political sociologists and of the second generation Frankfurt School attended one of the conferences held by the College.

External links

''official website''
– in Hungarian *

- in English
official periodical
– in Hungarian {{coord, 47, 29, 01, N, 19, 03, 54, E, type:landmark_source:kolossus-huwiki, display=title Corvinus University of Budapest Educational institutions established in 1981 Marxist organizations Social theories 1981 establishments in Hungary