Contesting Flexible Solidarity: Secular and Religious Support for Refugees in Hungary

Abstract

In this chapter, I discuss the Hungarian government’s call for “flexible solidarity.” I juxtapose flexible solidarity with grassroots efforts undertaken by different actors to welcome asylum seekers and facilitate their onward journey to European countries, where opportunities for more permanent settlement existed. I show how the flexible and effective solidarity promoted by the Hungarian government created deserving and undeserving refugees. I also present the position of religious leaders toward refugees to show how some attempted to welcome the Stranger, while others sided with the Orbán administration to advocate for solidarity abroad. I also demonstrate how different solidarians representing civil society organizations and informal community networks contested the government’s anti-refugee policies. While the civil society actors provided invaluable assistance to asylum seekers, they were not able to affect major policy changes.