Australian Left Review
Article Title
A voice from Hungary: Andras Hegedus
Abstract
A debate among marxists of eastern Europe on an alternative democratic path of development is under way. The contribution of Andras Hegedus to this debate is unique. He was the Prime Minister of stalinist Hungary but has made a critical reappraisal of his own past and that of his country. As a part of the “critical marxist opposition”, Hegedus was subjected to official silence for many years, but has recently emerged to give lectures at the university and to publish several works, mainly abroad, but also in Hungary itself. In this interview he discusses the work of the best-known contributor to the eastern European marxist debate, Rudolf Bahro of the German Democratic Republic. (See “The Challenge of Rudolf Bahro” by Denis Freney, ALR No. 72, Dec. 1979.) The interview was conducted in Budapest by Luigi Marcolungo and published in the Italian Communist Weekly Rinascita. Translated and abridged by Dave Davies.