In this study, we examine the narratives of Hungarian entrepreneurs with disabilities
(EWD) of the post-socialist era, using microhistory. Our research question concerns
how ableism appears in the lives of EWD and how the aftermath of socialism emerges
in their experience of ableism. We believe that a state-socialist past influences
the lives and careers of EWD in a way that is unique in entrepreneurial and disability
literature. Drawing on the accounts of 29 Hungarian entrepreneurs, we identified four
mechanisms that make post-socialist ableism specific: invisibility; passivity and
welfare dependency; the legitimacy of disability organisations; as well as the limitations
of economic participation. Our research suggests that these effects, embedded in the
current political, social, and economic environment, can only change slowly and over
a long time.
