Humanitarianism and (Symbolic) Capital. The Czechoslovak Red Cross in Subcarpathian Ruthenia, 1919–1939
Options
Description
Berenika Zeller (GSAH/ICS/HIST): Humanitarianism and (Symbolic) Capital. The Czechoslovak Red Cross in Subcarpathian Ruthenia, 1919–1939:
Following its detachment from Hungary and incorporation into the First Czechoslovak Republic in 1919/1920, Subcarpathian Ruthenia (now Ukraine's westernmost region, Transcarpathia) became the focus of an ambitious state-building project. As the new Czechoslovak republic had to follow the Paris Peace Treaties, incorporating the completely unfamiliar region into the state and guaranteeing minority rights, numerous new institutions were established. Alongside official state policies, the state also co-sponsored the newly established Czechoslovak Red Cross. Volunteers from Czechoslovakia and the US implemented an aid program for the impoverished region of Subcarpathian Ruthenia, providing food packages, health convoys and medical treatment among others. Together with local elites, they also established local Czechoslovak Red Cross societies and kitchens for the poor. These infrastructures addressed the very necessities for the recovery of a post-war society. However, the humanitarian work of the Czechoslovak Red Cross on the state’s periphery may be understood as a tool used to justify Czechoslovak policies with humanitarian wording and concepts. Beyond improving living conditions and combatting poverty in Subcarpathian Ruthenia, the aim was to link this specific region to the central state. As there was no shared history that would naturally link these two parts of the state together, the political center had to rely on other strategies. Economic and human resources were invested to gain symbolic authority and, consequently, legitimacy. This case study therefore serves to reflect upon concepts of capital, drawing on Bourdieu’s typology of economic, social, and cultural capital, as well as his notion of ‘symbolic authority’ (Ökonomisches Kapital, kulturelles Kapital, soziales Kapital; 1983) and the ‘maintenance of the symbolic order’ (La distinction. Critique sociale du jugement, 1979). Through the deployment of economic and cultural capital the efforts of the Czechoslovak Red Cross and the Czechoslovak state in the interwar period formed part of a broader project to reshape the social topographies of the region and to consolidate symbolic representation and power across the territories of the newly founded republic.
Following its detachment from Hungary and incorporation into the First Czechoslovak Republic in 1919/1920, Subcarpathian Ruthenia (now Ukraine's westernmost region, Transcarpathia) became the focus of an ambitious state-building project. As the new Czechoslovak republic had to follow the Paris Peace Treaties, incorporating the completely unfamiliar region into the state and guaranteeing minority rights, numerous new institutions were established. Alongside official state policies, the state also co-sponsored the newly established Czechoslovak Red Cross. Volunteers from Czechoslovakia and the US implemented an aid program for the impoverished region of Subcarpathian Ruthenia, providing food packages, health convoys and medical treatment among others. Together with local elites, they also established local Czechoslovak Red Cross societies and kitchens for the poor. These infrastructures addressed the very necessities for the recovery of a post-war society. However, the humanitarian work of the Czechoslovak Red Cross on the state’s periphery may be understood as a tool used to justify Czechoslovak policies with humanitarian wording and concepts. Beyond improving living conditions and combatting poverty in Subcarpathian Ruthenia, the aim was to link this specific region to the central state. As there was no shared history that would naturally link these two parts of the state together, the political center had to rely on other strategies. Economic and human resources were invested to gain symbolic authority and, consequently, legitimacy. This case study therefore serves to reflect upon concepts of capital, drawing on Bourdieu’s typology of economic, social, and cultural capital, as well as his notion of ‘symbolic authority’ (Ökonomisches Kapital, kulturelles Kapital, soziales Kapital; 1983) and the ‘maintenance of the symbolic order’ (La distinction. Critique sociale du jugement, 1979). Through the deployment of economic and cultural capital the efforts of the Czechoslovak Red Cross and the Czechoslovak state in the interwar period formed part of a broader project to reshape the social topographies of the region and to consolidate symbolic representation and power across the territories of the newly founded republic.
Date of Publication
2025-10-31
Publication Type
Conference Item
Subject(s)
Language(s)
en
Title of Event
Access(Rights)
metadata.only