Humanitarianism and Mediterranean Europe: A Transnational and Comparative History (1945-1990)

Project Information

HumanEuroMed

Grant agreement ID: 101019166

DOI

10.3030/101019166

EC signature date 20 September 2021

Start date 1 November 2021

End date 31 October 2026

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 968 945,00

EU contribution

€ 1 968 945,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI FIRENZE
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - HumanEuroMed (Humanitarianism and Mediterranean Europe: A Transnational and Comparative History (1945-1990))

Reporting period: 2023-05-01 to 2024-10-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

HumanEuroMed aims to investigate the role played by Southern European countries in shaping the contemporary regime of international aid. It examines the humanitarian undertakings of Portugal, Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia, and Greece since the end of the Second World War to the end of the Cold War, looking at the experience of different actors – such as institutions, administrators, experts, non-governmental organisations – in a comparative and transnational perspective. In doing so, HumanEuroMed innovatively asks: what does the history of humanitarianism look like when we bring the Mediterranean actors and their main recipients of international aid back in focus?
HumanEuroMed spans up to 1990, when the end of the Cold War drastically changed the structure of international aid. However, the project has much to say about recent developments in international aid. A more profound knowledge of the past allows for a better understanding of the humanitarian dilemmas of the present. HumanEuroMed offers new insights on the humanitarian tensions and challenges the countries of Mediterranean Europe face today.
The main objectives of the project are:
1. Looking at the countries of southern Europe as active players in shaping the international humanitarian regime in the second half of the 20th century.
2. Scrutinising the complex relationship between decolonisation and humanitarianism from the overlooked perspective of Spain, Portugal and Italy, as well as Greece with regard to its relations with Cyprus.
3. Tracing the role of multiple actors (institutions, non-governmental organisations, professionals and experts) in generating transnational networks which connected the countries of Mediterranean Europe among themselves and to the Global South.
4. Exploring the linkages between international relief and national social welfare programmes, and trace the transnational circulation of policies, practices and cultures of social care between the countries of Mediterranean Europe and the Global South.
5. Examining the impact of shifting political and economic contexts (e.g. the end of dictatorship in Portugal, Spain and Greece) on the shaping of humanitarian policies in the countries under investigation.
6. Paying specific attention to the role played by recipients in the co-construction (together with donors) of humanitarian action.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In the first 30 months of activity, HumanEuroMed has accomplished important achievements. The Advisory Board was established, and the experts participated in the project's workshops, offering advice on its development. We designed and launched the website for the project, which is constantly updated and enriched https://www.humaneuromed.unifi.it/ The Senior Research Fellow and all the Postdocs have been selected and recruited. This is a multilingual and multinational team that provides the project with all the necessary skills. The PI organised and conducted regular meetings and workshops to familiarise all team members with field-specific approaches, methods, debates, and insights so that they could confidently adopt the necessary multi-disciplinary approach. Meetings and workshops also served to clarify the case studies of each member through mutual comparison and within a shared scheme. Workshops usually revolved around common readings, keywords and methodological issues. The identification of case studies developed along three main research paths: Humanitarianism and decolonization, Intra-Southern Mediterranean Aid; Humanitarianism and Transition to Democracy. These themes inspired our scientific events and publications.
The team members presented the project and its results in numerous international workshops and conferences in Europe and the US. Furthermore, the team organised several workshops at the University of Florence, involving international scholars and other European Universities and Research Centers. Two openly accessible articles are already out, and other publications are under preparation. In particular, our work will appear soon in two major international journals: a special section on intra-southern European aid and a special issue on humanitarianism and decolonization.
The team conducted extensive archival research in Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Switzerland, UK, USA, Germany, Cyprus. Furthermore, the team has started collecting data about southern European NGOs and their archives, with the goal of creating a map with useful information for future research.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

In recent years, scholarly interest in international humanitarianism has increased greatly. These studies have, however, mainly examined the experience of donor countries in northern Europe as well as the United States, while the countries of southern Europe have largely been overlooked. Consequently, the history of humanitarianism ended up putting forward a skewed vision. On the one hand, the United States and the 'driving' countries of Europe are portrayed as central players in the construction of the modern system of international aid. On the other hand, the countries of Mediterranean Europe have been seen as marginal players, scarcely able to play an active role because they themselves were backward and weak, politically and economically.
HumanEuroMed challenges this skewed vision. It reframes the history of international aid in the second half of the 20th century by putting the countries of Mediterranean Europe at the centre of its inquiry. The following publications are expected as final outcomes of the project: several articles in national and international journals; two special issues; several chapters in edited volumes; one edited volume; one monography.

HumanEuroMed Team