Free World?
The Campaign to Save the World's Refugees, 1956–1963

Free World? is a major contribution to the transnational history of humanitarianism in the postwar world. Peter Gatrell shows how and why the UN, NGOs, governments and individuals embarked on a unique campaign, World Refugee Year (1959–60), in response to global refugee crises, particularly in Europe, the Middle East and the Far East. Adopted by nearly one hundred countries, the campaign galvanised public opinion and raised money by enlisting celebrities, using the mass media, and recreating 'refugee camps' in the affluent West. Free World? assesses the causes and consequences of the refugee crises, locates the campaign in the broader geopolitical context of the Cold War and decolonisation and shows how it helped to inspire subsequent campaigns such as Amnesty International and Freedom from Hunger. Ultimately, the book asks how those who are in a more privileged position might better reflect on their responsibilities towards refugees in the modern world.

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'Peter Gatrell has written a fine book which recounts and details a little remembered period of the history of humanitarian assistance to refugees some fifty years ago. Free World? is an important contribution to our understanding of refugee policy in the early period of the Cold War. Unlike most other studies, this book focuses on the roles of individuals and civil society rather than international organizations and states in responding to refugee problems. The book will be of particular interest to students of transnational history and transnational advocacy networks as well as to those who research and write about protracted refugee situations.' Journal of Refugee Studies

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Product details

• Date Published: August 2016
• format: Paperback
• isbn: 9780521174817
• length: 278 pages

• dimensions: 230 x 153 x 15 mm
• weight: 0.42kg
• contains: 22 b/w illus.
• availability: Available