Patriots and Proletarians examines the influence of political ideology on the development of a cultural identity among Hungarian immigrants in Canada during the interwar years. It traces the politicization of the Hungarian community into two rival camps - the conservative, pro-Hungarian regime camp and the radical, pro-communist camp - and shows that these differing ideologies played an integral part in the development of community institutions and group consciousness.

Hungarian immigrants' status as foreigners and their disadvantageous class position prevented them from gaining power in Canadian society, forcing them to rely almost exclusively on ideologies and institutions within their own communities to better their situation. Focusing on the social and cultural dimensions of immigrant politics, Carmela Patrias places the Hungarian situation within the larger context of immigration history.