The Constellations of Economic Power: The Position of Political Actors, Banks and Large Corporations in the Network of Directorate Interlocks

The aim of this paper is to gain an empirical insight into the structures of economic power in Hungary at the end of the nineties. The paper proceeds by the guidance of the weberian definition of power; as power is existing in relations, the paper is intended to be a relational study of the most important actors in the Hungarian economy, using directorate interlocks to trace these relations. The concepts of centrality and autonomy are used to model the possible constellations of relations that might refer to power. Besides tracing these two constellations, the paper also aims at mapping the qualities that are linked by the analysed relations. The propositions of the privatisation debate, the bank power discourse and the market transition debate are also reinterpreted in a relational context.