Political Violence: The Politics of Cold War Humanitarianism

Humanitarianism caries a litany of meanings around the world. Often we hear about humanitarian efforts to combat political violence. However, Felix Jiménez Botta sees humanitarianism as ultimately a political project in its own right. Moreover, he contends, that humanitarianism and political violence have a dynamic and complex relationship that overlapped with the typical communist vs. capitalist divide that characterizes most people’s understanding of the mid-twentieth century.

Episode 3 of our series on Political Violence opens up our transnational perspective to consider how humanitarian organizations and political parties in Germany built strategies around reactions to leftwing violence in South America. These leftist groups sometimes associated with violent Maoism. In today’s podcast Felix walks us through the complex relationship between political violence abroad and domestic political struggles in Germany. Join Sam Timinsky and Galen Poor as they talk with Felix Jiménez Botta, recent PhD graduate in History from Boston College.

Are you interested in reading more about the issues raised in this episode? Take a look at the work of Samuel Moyn on Amazon.

Stream or download our conversation here.

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