Honored Persons

 

Anton Pelinka

Anton Pelinka (born October 14, 1941 in Vienna, holding a PhD in law) is a recognized Austrian political scientist and commentator. Until 2006, Pelinka was a full professor at the University of Innsbruck and built up the Institute of Political Science. From 2006 to 2018, he was Professor of Nationalism Studies and Political Science at the Central European University in Budapest. As a consequence of the politics of the Hungarian government, this university might be forced to move to Vienna. Pelinka focuses on the areas of democratic theory, political system and political culture in Austria and the comparative party and association research. For many years he has been an internationally sought-after expert in the topics of right-wing extremism and xenophobia. In addition to his academic work and numerous honorary posts Pelinka also appears as a commentator in German-language media in appearance. As a politically independent person, he represents his position irrespective of imminent consequences. The former provincial governor of Carinthia, Jörg Haider, sued Anton Pelinka in 1999 for "bad slander" after Pelinka had said on Italian television that Haider played down National Socialism. Pelinka was acquitted. Anton Pelinka is unequivocally in favor of the European Union. In addition to his work as a scientist, he represented Austria in the 1990s in an EU commission on racism and xenophobia. He generously shares his expertise with civil society movements.