Simona is an ethnically Hungarian sociologist from Romania (Transylvania) who now lives in Hungary, where she conducts research and teaches at the university. She identifies as left-leaning and has two children. Her early political memories include the following: As a teenager, she tried to protect Roma women from discrimination in a shop and spoke up loudly on their behalf. However, she later discovered that they had stolen from her. This marks a formative experience in grappling with the complex nature of social problems. Already in her school years, she developed an intuitive sense that a pro-European politician would not bring the hoped-for changes. For Simona, politics means far more than elections; it’s about the community’s shared problems, from child-rearing to ecology. She emphasizes the importance of practicing active citizenship, even when one’s own actions may often seem ineffectual.
The chronology of her political trajectory reads as follows: For a long time, she hoped to be able to get by and live without political engagement. Concretely, this meant not having to actively engage with politics, being able to show indifference toward politics.
From 2010 onward, however, with the beginning of the Orbán government, this changed: her first participation in protests and petitions followed. In 2023, she was part of founding a movement in Romania called “Movement for a More Equal Transylvania.” Alongside this political work, she has also recently become involved in research circles close to trade unions.
The pandemic intensified her awareness of social inequalities, for example, that approximately 80% of workers in Romania could not work from home and were directly exposed to the virus.
Thanks to online platforms, Simona can remain active in her social movement despite geographic distance. She appreciates this flexibility but misses the intimacy of in-person meetings. Simona struggles with lack of time, guilt toward her family, and the disappointment that no established political force or party represents her convictions. Moving within this field of tension, she often feels hopeless but remains engaged.
This is a summary. The full interview explores Simona’s experiences in greater depth.