Mozgalom

Mozgalom is a Hungarian term meaning "movement." In a broad sense, it denotes a coordinated, sustained effort by a group of people to bring about social, political, or cultural change. Movements are typically organized around an idea or set of goals and mobilize resources, membership, and networks to influence public opinion, policy, or institutions. They may operate within legal frameworks or underground depending on the political environment, and their methods range from education and advocacy to protests, strikes, lobbying, and electoral participation. Movements often develop a distinct identity, symbols, and leadership structures, though they may also be horizontal and decentralized with local chapters or affinity groups.

Movements can be broad, such as labor or workers’ movements, feminist movements, civil rights movements, or nationalist and anti-colonial movements; they can also be narrow or issue-specific, like environmental campaigns or cultural revival movements. In Hungarian history, the term has been used to describe both historical currents and contemporary groups, including the munkásmozgalom (workers’ movement) of the 19th and 20th centuries and various resistance or reform movements in different periods. The concept is widely used in political science to analyze how collective action arises, sustains itself, and interacts with formal political institutions.