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Eszter Kováts

Eszter Kováts (eszter.kovats@univie.ac.at) is Marie Skodłowska-Curie postdoctoral research fellow in the Institute of Political Science at the University of Vienna and a research affiliate of the Central European University. She was formerly responsible for the East-Central-European gender programme of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Budapest.

What Austria’s election teaches us about the far right’s rise and migration fears

Eszter Kováts

Austria’s election results highlight key lessons on the far right’s enduring appeal.

Ostrich politics and its alternatives

Eszter Kováts

In lieu of comforting, self-righteous myths, Eszter Kováts argues, progressives should take the 'anti-woke' challenge seriously.

Hungary’s unedifying political wordplays

Eszter Kováts

The opposition, Eszter Kováts writes, should not succumb to Orbán’s friend versus foe politics in the European elections.

Identity politics: in defence of ‘old white men’

Eszter Kováts

Arguments over who has a right to speak, Eszter Kováts writes, should give way to discussing what they say.

‘Trigger points’ and the polarisation entrepreneurs

Eszter Kováts

Progressives, Eszter Kováts writes, need to avoid the trap of a politics which only knows friends and foes.

Seeing through Orbán’s anti-‘woke’ smokescreen

Eszter Kováts

Western liberals, Eszter Kováts writes, should avoid being seduced by Hungary’s authoritarian mouthpieces.

Delegitimising social critique and dissent on the left

Eszter Kováts

Eszter Kováts writes that censoriousness is not the way to deal with legitimate concerns about social-justice claims.

When radical zealotry meets the polarising populists

Eszter Kováts

Some activist-scholars, Eszter Kováts writes, have turned social justice into a latter-day religion, with perverse effects.

S&D Group in the European Parliament Advertisement

S&D Housing Storytelling

Europeans are struggling with rising housing and rental costs, and we have been working in various ways to address this, because we believe a home is a right for everyone.
 Recently, we travelled across Europe to hear directly from people who struggle to afford a decent place to live. They shared a glimpse of how the housing crisis has affected their lives and why having a home is so important to them. Take a moment to check out their stories. They remind us why it is so urgent to act.

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New Edition - Social policy in the European Union: state of play 2025

Can Europe preserve its distinctive social model while simultaneously rearming, reindustrialising, and reorganising its economy in a more conflictual and competitive world? This is the central question raised in this new edition of the Bilan social, a reference publication released every spring for more than 25 years by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and the European Social Observatory (OSE).

READ HERE
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Is financial resilience and trust in Europe faltering?

In this episode of Eurofound Talks, host Mary McCaughey and senior researcher Eszter Sandor unpack the results of the 2025 Living and Working in the EU e-survey. While headline inflation has stabilised at 2.1%, the data reveals a continent gripped by chronic precariousness, with 57% of respondents now at risk of depression. Mary and Eszter explore how this economic insecurity is impacting institutional trust and democratic engagement.

LISTEN HERE
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The Summer issue of The Progressive Post is out! 

The EU is belatedly awakening to a changing Mediterranean sea, where more assertive regional powers are reclaiming a role.

The new issue of the magazine also reflects on how we struggle to keep pace with AI innovations, examines the uncertainties surrounding the execution of the Pact on Migration and Asylum and the risk to human rights posed by the Return Regulation, and focuses on the EU Commission's newly proposed Industrial Accelerator Act.

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Climate policy measures are often met with feelings of powerlessness and disempowerment, triggering fears and resentment. This blog series asks: What does a socially just climate transition look like? How can we create acceptance for just climate policies? 

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“What is the actual purpose of the state?” – this central question is the focus of the analysis. At a time when bureaucratic processes are making life difficult for citizens, the paper proposes a three-part model. It aims at a conception of the state as a platform that helps society build the capabilities it needs to address its problems effectively.

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