András Vigvári: Zártkert-Magyarország
Book Launch in Cluj Napoca
Thursday, , 29th of February, 6 p.m.
Address: tranzit.ro/Cluj, Napoca str, no 16, 1st floor, Cluj Napoca
How do people address the housing crisis? András Vigvári's book deals with the grassroots responses to the housing crisis in Central and Eastern Europe, focusing on the settlement of suburban private agricultural areas. The book presents an ethnographic study of the settlement of a suburban garden area on the outskirts of a town near Budapest, once an agricultural and weekend housing area, and discusses the results of the fieldwork as part of global social and housing processes.
András Vigvári's book draws attention to the fact that the case of settlement of suburban gardens in Hungary is deeply embedded in global spatial-social processes, and in the absence of affordable urban housing, more and more people are being pushed out of cities and forced to self-sustain their housing outside cities.
At the book launch in Cluj, we will explore the following questions with the author and our invited guests: What kind of housing processes have contributed to the settlement of suburban gardens in Hungary, and what are the characteristics of the surroundings of Cluj-Napoca?
What is the role of temporary spaces in the social reproduction of households in Cluj-Napoca? How do the stories described in the book fit into the housing and coping strategies of households in Transylvania and, more broadly, in Central and Eastern Europe?
The volume is presented by our invitees:
Gyöngyi Pásztor, sociologist (Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, UBB)
Szabó Á. Töhötöm, ethnographer (Department of Hungarian Ethnography and Anthropology, UBB)
Enikő Vincze, sociologist and housing activist (Faculty of European Studies UBB, Căși sociale ACUM / Social housing NOW )
The roundtable discussion is moderated by Ivett Szabó (tranzit.ro/Cluj).
The language of this event is Hungarian.
András Vigvári, sociologist and ethnographer, obtained his PhD in 2022 at the ELTE Doctoral School of Sociology. His research interests include ethnographic studies of spatial-social inequalities, housing, social reproduction and household coping strategies.
The event is organised by Helyzet Műhely and tranzit.ro/Cluj.
“Helyzet Műhely” Books: a series publishing the results of the professional work around the “Helyzet Műhely, of which András Vigvári's book is the second volume. The “Helyzet Műhely” was founded in 2011 by young social researchers to analyse the current Hungarian situation in a community, incorporating left-wing critical perspectives.
The main partner of tranzit.ro is ERSTE Stiftung.
