https:\/\/doi.org\/10.14267\/1588970X.2026.015<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Abstract<\/h1>\n
The article analyses non-state actor (NSA) agency at the intersection of autocratisation and new industrial policies. We focus on Hungary, an EU Member State that aims to become a leading global player in the electric vehicle sector, particularly in EV battery production. Besides the already functioning South Korean plants, numerous Chinese firms have been attracted to the country by extremely generous state support to build giga-factories. However, battery-related plants face opposition from the local population. Under the Hungarian autocratic regime, the space for NSA agency is increasingly shrinking, yet our focus is narrowed to analysing non-governmental organisations. We ask whether organised civil society can exercise political or domain-specific agency in an autocratising regime. Bottom-up initiatives against the battery factories mushroomed in all the affected Hungarian localities, which increasingly cooperated with each other, and even set up an umbrella organisation at the national level. Some important achievements are documented. To illustrate the causes of the limited non-state actor activism and nevertheless account for how impactful changes have occurred, the article analyses the experiences of two local associations: G\u00d6D-\u00c9RT (the For G\u00f6d Association) and MIAK\u00d6 (the Mothers of Mikep\u00e9rcs for the Environment Association). At the time of study, both have been forced to operate in an increasingly repressive setting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The non-state actor contestation of battery factory investments in Hungary: the activism of G\u00d6D-\u00c9RT and MIAK\u00d6 Authors: Judit Ricz, Andrea \u00c9ltet\u0151 In:\u00a0Society and Economy in Central and Eastern Europe, 48(2), 64-91. DOI:\u00a0https:\/\/doi.org\/10.14267\/1588970X.2026.015 Abstract The article analyses non-state actor (NSA) agency at the intersection of autocratisation and new industrial policies. We focus on Hungary, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12088,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[104,100],"tags":[248,974,439,976,278,438,975],"class_list":["post-12089","publikacio","type-publikacio","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-external-publications","category-publications","tag-autocracy","tag-battery-factories-en","tag-elteto-andrea-en","tag-illiberal-regime-en","tag-industrial-policy-en","tag-judit-ricz-en","tag-non-state-activism-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Ricz, J., \u00c9ltet\u0151, A.: The non-state actor contestation of battery factory investments in Hungary: the activism of G\u00d6D-\u00c9RT and MIAK\u00d6 - VGI<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vgi.krtk.hu\/en\/publikacio\/ricz-j-elteto-a-the-non-state-actor-contestation-of-battery-factory-investments-in-hungary-the-activism-of-god-ert-and-miako\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ricz, J., \u00c9ltet\u0151, A.: The non-state actor contestation of battery factory investments in Hungary: the activism of G\u00d6D-\u00c9RT and MIAK\u00d6 - VGI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The non-state actor contestation of battery factory investments in Hungary: the activism of G\u00d6D-\u00c9RT and MIAK\u00d6 Authors: Judit Ricz, Andrea \u00c9ltet\u0151 In:\u00a0Society and Economy in Central and Eastern Europe, 48(2), 64-91. 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