Balázs studied sociology and philosophy at Eötvös Loránd University. He also has an MA in Nationalism studies from CEU and an MPhil in philosophy from Paris-X, Nanterre University. After some years spent in France, Balázs defended his PhD thesis in philosophy at the University of Debrecen. His dissertation was written on the philosophy of Michel Foucault, while he also translated one volume of Foucault’s Collège de France lectures (entitled ‘Abnormal’). Previously, he worked as a sociologist of education, doing research on the practices of segregation and categorisation in Hungarian schools. He has also published articles in social theory and the epistemology of the social sciences, and has covered some of the political and social happenings in Hungary for Hungarian, Swiss and French journals.