Gáspár Miklós Tamás Explained

Gáspár Miklós Tamás
Birth Date:	28 November 1948
Nationality:	Romanian Hungarian
Notable Ideas:	Post-fascism

Gáspár Miklós Tamás (G. M. Tamás; Hungarian: Tamás Gáspár Miklós; 28 November 1948 – 15 January 2023), often referred to as TGM,^[1] was a Romanian-born Hungarian political philosopher and public intellectual, influenced by Marxism and libertarian socialism. He was a contributor to online newspaper Mérce and to OpenDemocracy, where he wrote primarily about political and aesthetic questions. He was the father of British poet and writer Rebecca Tamás.

Biography

Gáspár Miklós Tamás was born in today's Cluj, Romania, but emigrated to Budapest, Hungary, in 1978, where he lived for much of his life. His mother was Jewish and escaped being deported to Auschwitz because she was imprisoned for being a communist.^[2] As a dissident at the end of the state socialist period, he was initially a libertarian socialist. While in contact with libertarian authors, his perspective was distinct from the Budapest School, a major school of thought in Hungarian Neo-Marxism. He was also a member of the informal group called the "democratic opposition". From 1986 to 1988, he taught in the U.S., Britain, and France, and also continued his studies at Oxford University. At the beginning of the post-socialist era in 1989, he became committed to a liberal program, and was a leader of the Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ).^[3] As a representative of the party, he was a member of the Hungarian Parliament from 1989 to 1994,^[4] and served the party's president through 1994, departing the party in 2000. He was a prominent democratic opponent of the Hungarian government under János Kádár^[5] and Viktor Orbán.^[6] He became the Green Left's president in 2010.^[7]

Tamás was known for developing the concept of post-fascism and the term ethnicism. In his words,

Tamás died on 15 January 2023, at the age of 74.^[8]

Personal life

He described himself as a "conservative anarchist"^[9] and a Marxist.

Bibliography

Books in English

• Book: Tamás, Gáspar Miklós . 2011 . Innocent Power . . . 9783775728621.

Books in French

• Book: Tamás, Gáspar Miklós . 1985 . L'Oeil et la main: Introduction à la politique . The Eye and the Hand: Introduction to Politics . fr . . Éditions Noir . 33315996.

Books in German

• Book: Tamás, Gáspar Miklós . 2015 . Kommunismus nach 1989: Beiträge zu Klassentheorie, Realsozialismus, Osteuropa . Communism after 1989: Contributions to Class Theory, Real Socialism, Eastern Europe . de . . Mandelbaum Verlag . 9783854766414.

Books in Hungarian

• Book: Tamás, Gáspar Miklós . 1975 . A teória esélyei: Esszék, bírálatok . The Prospects for Theory: Essays and Reviews . hu . . Kriterion . 909543438.
• Book: Tamás, Gáspar Miklós . 1994 . Másvilág: Politikai esszék . Another World: Political Essays . hu . . Új Mandátum . 9789637476204.
• Book: Tamás, Gáspar Miklós . 1999 . Törzsi fogalmak . I-II . Tribal Concepts . hu . . Atlantisz . 9789639165267.
• Tamás, Gáspár Miklós (2021) Antitézis [Antithesis] (in Hungarian). Budapest, Hungary: Pesti Kalligram. ISBN 9789634682035

Further reading

• Book: Bozóki . András . Sükösd . Miklós . Anarchism in Hungary: Theory, History, Legacies . 2006 . en . 978-0-88033-568-3 . Social Science Monographs . mdy-all .

External links

• Some of his lectures: 1, 2, 3, 4,5, 6, 7
• Some of his speeches: 1, 2
• Central European University: Academic Profile of Gáspár Miklós Tamás
• "Hatred and Betrayal." The Guardian, 9 May 2007.https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/may/09/comment.comment
• "Hungary: Where We Went Wrong." Interview with Chris Harman. International Socialism, 24 June 2009. http://sanhati.com/articles/1700/
• "The Left and Marxism in Eastern Europe: An Interview with Gáspár Miklós Tamás." Interview with Imre Szeman. Mediations: Journal of the Marxist Literary Group, volume 24, number 2, Spring 2009. http://www.mediationsjournal.org/articles/the-left-and-marxism-in-eastern-europe
• "On Post-Fascism." Boston Review, Summer 2000. https://web.archive.org/web/20140826160716/http://new.bostonreview.net/BR25.3/tamas.html
• "Socialism and Freedom." Jacobin, 5.12.2015. https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/05/tamas-fascism-socialism-east-europe-hungary/
• "Telling the Truth about Class." Socialist Register vol. 42, 2006. https://socialistregister.com/index.php/srv/article/view/5852
• "Words from Budapest." New Left Review 80, March–April 2013. http://newleftreview.org/II/80/g-m-tamas-words-from-budapest

Further reading

• Web site: Bayer . Lili . A philosopher’s death and the two realities of Orbán’s Hungary . Politico . 2023-02-07 . en-GB . 2024-05-06 . 26 September 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230926032613/https://www.politico.eu/article/viktor-orban-hungary-philosopher-gaspar-miklos-tamas-death-exposes-hungary-two-realities/ . live .
• Book: Kopeček . Michal . Wcislik . Piotr . Thinking Through Transition: Liberal Democracy, Authoritarian Pasts, and Intellectual History in East Central Europe After 1989 . 2015 . en . 978-963-386-085-4 . Central European University Press .
• Web site: Zsurzsan . Anita . G. M. Tamás Wasn’t 'Hungary’s Last Marxist' . . 2023-02-26 . en-US . 2024-05-06 . mdy-all . 1 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231201003643/https://jacobin.com/2023/02/g-m-tamas-marxism-philosophy-hungary-socialism-obituary . live .

Notes and References

1. Dale . Gareth . In memoriam: Gáspár Miklós Tamás . Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe . 31 . 1 . 1–13 . 2023 . en . 10.1080/25739638.2023.2188385 . free . 2573-9638 .
2. Web site: Words from Budapest. An interview of Gaspar Miklos Tamas with New Left Review. 19 April 2013. 15 April 2019. 15 April 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190415221821/http://www.criticatac.ro/lefteast/words-from-budapest-2/. live.
3. News: UPHEAVAL IN THE EAST; A Democratically Evolving Hungary Heads Into Unknown at Polls Today . The New York Times . September 15, 2008 . Celestine . Bohlen . March 25, 1990 . 3 September 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190903174306/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/25/world/upheaval-east-democratically-evolving-hungary-heads-into-unknown-polls-today.html?pagewanted=all . live .
4. Web site: Jäger . Anton . The prophet of post-fascism . . 2023-01-17 . en-US . 2024-05-06 . 7 June 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230607170127/https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2023/01/gaspar-miklos-tamas-prophet-post-fascism . live .
5. Web site: Pálma . Fazekas . Gyertyagyújtással emlékeztek Tamás Gáspár Miklósra . Szabad Európa . 2023-01-16 . hu . 2024-05-06 . 28 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231128190058/https://www.szabadeuropa.hu/a/gyertyagyujtassal-emlekeztek-tamas-gaspar-miklosra-/32225093.html . live .
6. Web site: de la Reguera . Erik . Gáspar Miklós Tamás: This is post-fascism . Arbetet . 2015-09-26 . sv-SE . 2024-05-06 . 2 August 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230802164739/https://arbetet.se/2015/09/26/gaspar-miklos-tamas-this-is-post-fascism/ . live .
7. Book: Vida. István. Magyarországi politikai pártok lexikona (1846–2010) [Encyclopedia of the Political Parties in Hungary (1846–2010)]. Gondolat Kiadó. 2011. 468. Zöld Baloldal (ZB). 978-963-693-276-3. hu.
8. News: Meghalt Tamás Gáspár Miklós . 15 January 2023 . Index.hu . 15 January 2023 . 15 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230115145725/https://index.hu/belfold/2023/01/15/tamas-gaspar-miklos-tgm-meghalt-gyasz-nekrolog/ . live .
9. Book: Liberty and Socialism: Writings of Libertarian Socialists in Hungary, 1884-1919 . 978-0-8476-7680-4 . Bak . János M. . Bozóki . András . Sükösd . Miklós . 13 February 1991 . Rowman & Littlefield . 23 January 2024 . 23 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240123020530/https://books.google.com/books?id=zqX0ah6uETYC&pg=PR34 . live .