The Moral Economies of Retribution and Restitution: Confiscations and Sequestrations in Hungary 1848-­1856

Focusing on the debate about confiscations in the Hungarian national assembly in 1848--1849 and on the discussions about confiscation and restitution in the Habsburg administration from 1849 to 1856, this article argues that these measures functioned as "moral economies of political retribution." In each instance, financial and practical considerations were negotiated with relation to specific visions of the political and social order. At the center of this moral economy were costbenefit calculations, in which the symbolic costs of confiscations and the expected political advantages were weighed against the actual financial costs of the state's guardianship over confiscated assets. While contingencies played a significant role in the implementation of these measures, this article shows that the parliamentary or interministerial discussions about confiscations were embedded in larger arguments about responsibility and representation, and the transition from subjection to citizenship.