In recent years, international humanitarianism has increasingly attracted the interest of historians. A great deal of research has 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.
How can we challenge this unbalance? To what extent the contribution of the Mediterranean Europe urges us to reframe the history of international aid? The paper revolves around these questions.
Silvia Salvatici teaches Modern History at the University of Florence. Her recent research interests focus on refugees in the contemporary age and the history of humanitarianism. Among her publications: A History of Humanitarianism 1755-1989. In the name of Others, Manchester, MUP, 2019; ‘Missing the Global Turn: Italy, the 1951 Refugee Convention, and the Belated Removal of the Geographical Limitation’, European History Quarterly (forthcoming).