Humanitarianism in Times of Democratic Transition: Perspectives from Southern Europe

This introductory article presents the key methodological and interpretative themes that stand at the core of the special issue ‘Humanitarianism in Times of Democratic Transition: Perspectives from Southern Europe’, which links the political experience of democratic transitions in Spain, Portugal and Greece with new forms of humanitarianism and human rights activism. In doing so, it questions the interconnectedness of multiple Southern European humanitarian actors in short- and long-term processes of democratic consolidation. The original studies in this special issue shed light on the multifaceted experiences of transitional humanitarianism. Political shifts intersect with transnational labour solidarity, decolonisation and refugee integration, the global rise of NGOs and their role in modelling democracy abroad. The studies thus provide new and cross-disciplinary lenses to understand how Southern European transitions shaped and were shaped by transnational humanitarian initiatives.