Maneuvering between nationalizing policies : Ethnically marked choices in the Ukrainian-Hungarian intermarriages in Transcarpathia, Ukraine

Tátrai, Patrik and Ferenc, Viktória and Kohut-Ferki, Julianna and Kovály, Katalin and Molnár, József (2026) Maneuvering between nationalizing policies : Ethnically marked choices in the Ukrainian-Hungarian intermarriages in Transcarpathia, Ukraine. In: Minorities, Identity and Intermarriage : A European Perspective. Routledge Advances in Minority Studies . Routledge, London, pp. 109-129. ISBN 9781032914190; 9781032914206; 9781003563228

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Abstract

In the era of nationalizing states, the context of autochthonous majority-minority relations is typically marked by institutionally sustained ethnic asymmetries, which—particularly in the case of ethnically mixed families—tend to orient patterns of ethnic socialization and ethnic identity transmission towards the majority. However, the ethnically marked choices of mixed families are shaped not only by the nationalizing policies of home-states but also by external factors. This can be experienced in Transcarpathia, Ukraine's westernmost region, where since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2014, Hungary's kin-state activism has become notably impactful, granting socio-economic privileges to the Hungarian minority population. Based on mixed methods, this paper aims to show how the intensifying kin-state politics of Hungary influenced Ukrainian-Hungarian mixed families’ choices among ethnically marked alternatives in Transcarpathia, such as school choice and language use. We argue that the various benefits offered by Hungary increased the prestige of the Hungarian language/ethnicity. Consequently, a growing proportion of ethnically marked choices favors Hungarian language and educational institutions, particularly in the context of migration to Hungary as a typical coping strategy locally. Maneuvering between ethnically marked options reflects mixed families’ flexible adaptation to local and global conditions within changing social frameworks.

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