Continuity and Discontinuity in the History of Hungarian Social Administration

The Legacy of Csizmadia Andor and Productive Social Policy

Abstract

The study examines the contexts of continuity and discontinuity in the history of 20^th century Hungarian social administration through the legal historian and administrative career of Andor Csizmadia. Csizmadia’s practice during his early career in the administration and his views regarding social policy taking shape between the two World Wars had linked him to “productive social policy” (or alternatively to the “productive” movement of social policy). After the Second World War, he participated in developing the social policy and administration of the socialist state, and in the early 1980s, he attempted to create a new concept of social policy. From the perspective of the history of social administration, the significance of Csizmadia’s oeuvre can be defined as interpreting and cultivating the legacy of “productive social policy”.