Family Memory and Historical Socialization

Abstract

Abstract

How does political socialization in the family work? What kind of factors and structures are operating in this process? A Hungarian research team set to answer these questions. Relying on Percheron’s theory on long historical effects in socialization, the team listed ten historical events in the last hundred years of Hungary as key events in families’ memory. The length and variety of family memory, its continuity and discontinuity were tested with this tool, the attitude of grandparents, parents, and youth generation to different key events were analyzed as well. Demographic and cultural factors affecting family memory have been identified in a detailed analysis. Author concludes that (1) the research method and tool proved fruitful; (2) long historical memory has been destroyed in most families by various social and political troubles they had to survive during the last hundred years.

Keywords: political socialization – family socialization – Hungarian politics – Percheron’s theory