Migrants into Humanitarians: Ethnic Solidarity and Private Aid-Giving during Romania’s Historic Flood of 1970
Migrants into Humanitarians: Ethnic Solidarity and Private Aid-Giving during Romania’s Historic Flood of 1970
Author(s): Cristian CapotescuSubject(s): Ethics / Practical Philosophy, Political history, Environmental and Energy policy, Government/Political systems, International relations/trade, Post-War period (1950 - 1989), Migration Studies
Published by: SAGE Publications Ltd
Keywords: Natural Disasters; Socialist Period; Humanitarianism; Migrant Networks; Romania;
Summary/Abstract: This article studies the involvement of Western diaspora communities of Transylvanian Saxons in the humanitarian campaign for Romania during the flood disaster in 1970. It shows how the Saxons’ private relief campaigns established new forms of connectivity and exchange across the Iron Curtain through a transnational regime of care, ethnic solidarity, and charitable work. The article argues that the contingent and precarious situation of such spatially divided ethnic communities refashioned a generation of World War II refugees and migrants from “speechless” objects of humanitarian intervention into passionate advocates, effective mediators, and surprising champions of private aid giving in postwar Europe.
Journal: East European Politics and Societies
- Issue Year: 35/2021
- Issue No: 02
- Page Range: 293-312
- Page Count: 20
- Language: English
- Content File-PDF