The main topic of the symposium is the parallelism between the oppositions against Joseph II and his enlightened despotism in Hungary, as well as in the Austrian Netherlands in 1789/90, with special emphasis on the political languages and ideologies used by them. This will be treated in the context of the „age of the democratic revolutions”, as well as that of the national awakenings at the end of the 18th century.

Project member Jonathan Singerton presented a paper entitled "The Mirror of Habsburg Reform in the Austrian Netherlands and Hungary: Maria Carolina's Ideal Governance and its Opposition in Naples-Sicily 1775-1814"His paper spoke about how Maria Carolina's own reform agenda in Naples-Sicily mirrored that of her brother Joseph in the Habsburg Monarchy and about the similarities of the oppositional movements against these reforms both in Central Europe and in southern Italy. His participation was kindly supported by the Österreichisches Kulturforum - Budapest.