Save

Failures, Limits and Competition: Campaigns on Behalf of Eastern European Dissidents in Cold War Belgium, 1956–1989

In: East Central Europe
Authors:
Kim Christiaens kadoc-kuLeuven, Documentation and Research Centre on Religion, Culture and Society, 1750-present, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

Search for other papers by Kim Christiaens in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
and
Manuel Herrera Crespo kadoc-kuLeuven, Documentation and Research Centre on Religion, Culture and Society, 1750-present, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

Search for other papers by Manuel Herrera Crespo in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
Download Citation Get Permissions

Access options

Get access to the full article by using one of the access options below.

Institutional Login

Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials

Login via Institution

Purchase

Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):

$34.95

Abstract

This article examines the ways in which campaigns supportive of dissidents and human rights in Eastern Europe developed in Belgium during the Cold War. The Belgian case study reveals the critical role of internationally oriented Catholic organizations and social movements in these campaigns. This Catholic activism has often been neglected in mainstream accounts focusing on left-wing or liberal support for Eastern European dissidents or human rights, but it is key to understanding the development of campaigns and their relationships, both real and imagined, with other causes, especially movements with a North – South orientation. Catholic ngo s and social movements constituted a site where activism on behalf of dissidents and human rights in Eastern Europe encountered and entangled with solidarity movements oriented toward the “Third World”. Revealing crossovers and connections, this article argues that the engagement with and images of Eastern European dissidents cannot be understood apart from the development of North – South movements. It also reveals tensions and limitations that have remained neglected in universalizing human rights narratives stressing connections and flows.

Content Metrics

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 59 59 0
Full Text Views 54 54 10
PDF Views & Downloads 86 86 12