Kim Christiaens
Biographic Data
| ID | 1153477 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kim Christiaens |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kim |
| FAMILY NAME | Christiaens |
| SIGNATURE | CHRISTIAENS K |
| AFFILIATIONS | KU Leuven |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8070-4176 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 25 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Poland and Nicaragua
Despite the manifold and contradictory parallels drawn between Poland and Nicaragua during the 1980s, strikingly little is known about the origins of these connections, the actors involved, and the wider concrete flows and exchanges that were at work between these two countries who each played a pivotal role during the sunset years of the Cold War. This article analyses the imagined common struggles, networks and ideas that brought Poland and Nic…
Civil Engagement and Cultural Transfers between Central and Eastern European Migrants and the Low Countries (from the 1930s to the Present)
status: Published
Failures, Limits and Competition
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 righ…
Literature alerts
Amsterdam University Press is a leading publisher of academic books, journals and textbooks in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Our aim is to make current research available to scholars, students, innovators, and the general public. AUP stands for scholarly excellence, global presence, and engagement with the international academic community
The Eastern Bloc, Human Rights, and the Global Fight against Apartheid
Anti-apartheid advocacy allowed Eastern Bloc countries to reframe their ideological language of solidarity towards African countries into a legalist rhetoric during the 1960s and 70s. Support for international anti-racial discrimination law and self-determination from colonial rule reinforced their ties to Africa after the disenchantment of the Hungarian Uprising. Rights activism against apartheid showcased the socialist Bloc’s active contributio…
European Reconfigurations of Transnational Activism
The overthrow of the democratically elected socialist president Salvador Allende in Chile and the human rights violations under the military junta of Augusto Pinochet spawned one of the most iconic and sustained human rights campaigns of the Cold War. Human rights scholars have argued that this movement on behalf of Chile signalled the “breakthrough” of human rights as the lingua franca of transnational activism. They have emphasized the global d…
Europe at the crossroads of three worlds
Over the past few years, there has been growing interdisciplinary interest in the history of European solidarity movements that mobilized on behalf of the ‘Third World’ in the wake of the post-war decolonization process. Focusing on European campaigns against the Vietnam War and Pinochet’s Chile, this article aims at positioning these international solidarity movements in the broader history of North–South and East–West exchanges and connections …
Communists are no Beasts’
Ever since the collapse of the Greek military regime in 1974 European campaigns over human rights and democracy in Greece have been commonly understood within an anti-totalitarian narrative that has celebrated resistance against both communist dictatorship and right-wing authoritarianism as part of a common journey towards a democratic continent. This article analyses the little-studied history of European solidarity movements with Greece during …
Entangled Transitions
Ever since the fall of the Iron Curtain and the enthusiasm it inspired about the potential for European unity and democracy, it has become fashionable to see post-war European history in terms of convergence. Historians have researched the integration of the European continent into the global, in the context of the Cold War, decolonisation and economic globalisation. Internally, processes of convergence are seen to link the trajectories of nation…
The Benelux and the Cold War
What is there new to say on the Low Countries and transatlantic relations during the Cold War? How do recent trends in Cold War research open up uncharted areas to explore these relations from new angles and perspectives? With attention shifting to cultural, global, transnational and multi-centric approaches to the international history of the twentieth century, it would seem that the transatlantic is long passé as a primary frame of reference. A…
Beyond Western European Idealism
This article compares the mobilization of Belgian society for campaigns professing solidarity with three different issues in the 1980s: the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, the independent trade union Solidarność in the Polish People’s Republic, and the long struggle against apartheid in South Africa. It inquires into the ideological, social, and strategic similarities and differences between these movements, and does so in a broader context b…
The Low Countries and Eastern Europe during the Cold War
This introductory article critically assesses the main themes and issues that have dominated the historiography of the Low Countries and Eastern Europe during the Cold War. It reflects on the ways in which new archival sources and trends in international historical research can make the picture of East-West relations more diversified and complex in terms of actors, ideas, and directions. Rather than showing the importance and singularity of the B…
From the East to the South, and Back? International Solidarity Movements in Belgium and New Histories of the Cold War, 1950s–1970s
To date, accounts of international solidarity movements with an orientation towards the Third World have remained strongly embedded in 1968 historiography and largely unconnected to Cold War history. This article aims to position these solidarity movements within the broader history of the Cold War and to explore their relevance to efforts at globalizing and entangling the history of North-South and East-West relations. Building on arguments deve…
European Solidarity with Chile – 1970s – 1980s
"The overthrow of the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende and the coming to power of a military regime led by Augusto Pinochet on 11 September 1973 drew worldwide attention towards Chile. The political repression shook the world and ignited one of the largest social movements of the 1970s and 80s. Hundreds of solidarity committees and a gamut of human rights and justice organizations mobilized thousands of people. This volume of…
Between diplomacy and solidarity
Between the 1960s and 1980s, political crises in the Third World became a source of inspiration and action in Western European societies. The Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua was one of the most famous instigators of transnational activism. All over Western Europe, locally organised committees staged public actions, collected funds and educated their societies about the plight of this Central American nation, whose Marxist government faced stro…
Inspirées par le Sud
Dans les premières décennies après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, la réaction sociale de l'Europe occidentale à la situation derrière le rideau de fer resta modeste. Malgré les efforts des exilés est-européens, les protestations à grande échelle ne firent leur apparition qu'après l'invasion soviétique de la Hongrie en 1956. Même dans ce cas-là, la constellation de pouvoir de la guerre froide mit des limites à l'idéalisme occidental et fit que le mou…
European Reconfigurations of Transnational Activism
The overthrow of the democratically elected socialist president Salvador Allende in Chile and the human rights violations under the military junta of Augusto Pinochet spawned one of the most iconic and sustained human rights campaigns of the Cold War. Human rights scholars have argued that this movement on behalf of Chile signalled the “breakthrough” of human rights as the lingua franca of transnational activism. They have emphasized the global d…
Europe at the crossroads of three worlds
Over the past few years, there has been growing interdisciplinary interest in the history of European solidarity movements that mobilized on behalf of the ‘Third World’ in the wake of the post-war decolonization process. Focusing on European campaigns against the Vietnam War and Pinochet’s Chile, this article aims at positioning these international solidarity movements in the broader history of North–South and East–West exchanges and connections …
From the East to the South, and Back? International Solidarity Movements in Belgium and New Histories of the Cold War, 1950s–1970s
To date, accounts of international solidarity movements with an orientation towards the Third World have remained strongly embedded in 1968 historiography and largely unconnected to Cold War history. This article aims to position these solidarity movements within the broader history of the Cold War and to explore their relevance to efforts at globalizing and entangling the history of North-South and East-West relations. Building on arguments deve…
Between diplomacy and solidarity
Between the 1960s and 1980s, political crises in the Third World became a source of inspiration and action in Western European societies. The Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua was one of the most famous instigators of transnational activism. All over Western Europe, locally organised committees staged public actions, collected funds and educated their societies about the plight of this Central American nation, whose Marxist government faced stro…
Entangled Transitions
Ever since the fall of the Iron Curtain and the enthusiasm it inspired about the potential for European unity and democracy, it has become fashionable to see post-war European history in terms of convergence. Historians have researched the integration of the European continent into the global, in the context of the Cold War, decolonisation and economic globalisation. Internally, processes of convergence are seen to link the trajectories of nation…
Communists are no Beasts’
Ever since the collapse of the Greek military regime in 1974 European campaigns over human rights and democracy in Greece have been commonly understood within an anti-totalitarian narrative that has celebrated resistance against both communist dictatorship and right-wing authoritarianism as part of a common journey towards a democratic continent. This article analyses the little-studied history of European solidarity movements with Greece during …
Inspirées par le Sud
Dans les premières décennies après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, la réaction sociale de l'Europe occidentale à la situation derrière le rideau de fer resta modeste. Malgré les efforts des exilés est-européens, les protestations à grande échelle ne firent leur apparition qu'après l'invasion soviétique de la Hongrie en 1956. Même dans ce cas-là, la constellation de pouvoir de la guerre froide mit des limites à l'idéalisme occidental et fit que le mou…
Inspirées par le Sud
Dans les premières décennies après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, la réaction sociale de l'Europe occidentale à la situation derrière le rideau de fer resta modeste. Malgré les efforts des exilés est-européens, les protestations à grande échelle ne firent leur apparition qu'après l'invasion soviétique de la Hongrie en 1956. Même dans ce cas-là, la constellation de pouvoir de la guerre froide mit des limites à l'idéalisme occidental et fit que le mou…
European Solidarity with Chile – 1970s – 1980s
"The overthrow of the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende and the coming to power of a military regime led by Augusto Pinochet on 11 September 1973 drew worldwide attention towards Chile. The political repression shook the world and ignited one of the largest social movements of the 1970s and 80s. Hundreds of solidarity committees and a gamut of human rights and justice organizations mobilized thousands of people. This volume of…
Between diplomacy and solidarity
Between the 1960s and 1980s, political crises in the Third World became a source of inspiration and action in Western European societies. The Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua was one of the most famous instigators of transnational activism. All over Western Europe, locally organised committees staged public actions, collected funds and educated their societies about the plight of this Central American nation, whose Marxist government faced stro…
Beyond Western European Idealism
This article compares the mobilization of Belgian society for campaigns professing solidarity with three different issues in the 1980s: the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, the independent trade union Solidarność in the Polish People’s Republic, and the long struggle against apartheid in South Africa. It inquires into the ideological, social, and strategic similarities and differences between these movements, and does so in a broader context b…
The Low Countries and Eastern Europe during the Cold War
This introductory article critically assesses the main themes and issues that have dominated the historiography of the Low Countries and Eastern Europe during the Cold War. It reflects on the ways in which new archival sources and trends in international historical research can make the picture of East-West relations more diversified and complex in terms of actors, ideas, and directions. Rather than showing the importance and singularity of the B…
From the East to the South, and Back? International Solidarity Movements in Belgium and New Histories of the Cold War, 1950s–1970s
To date, accounts of international solidarity movements with an orientation towards the Third World have remained strongly embedded in 1968 historiography and largely unconnected to Cold War history. This article aims to position these solidarity movements within the broader history of the Cold War and to explore their relevance to efforts at globalizing and entangling the history of North-South and East-West relations. Building on arguments deve…
The Benelux and the Cold War
What is there new to say on the Low Countries and transatlantic relations during the Cold War? How do recent trends in Cold War research open up uncharted areas to explore these relations from new angles and perspectives? With attention shifting to cultural, global, transnational and multi-centric approaches to the international history of the twentieth century, it would seem that the transatlantic is long passé as a primary frame of reference. A…
Europe at the crossroads of three worlds
Over the past few years, there has been growing interdisciplinary interest in the history of European solidarity movements that mobilized on behalf of the ‘Third World’ in the wake of the post-war decolonization process. Focusing on European campaigns against the Vietnam War and Pinochet’s Chile, this article aims at positioning these international solidarity movements in the broader history of North–South and East–West exchanges and connections …
Communists are no Beasts’
Ever since the collapse of the Greek military regime in 1974 European campaigns over human rights and democracy in Greece have been commonly understood within an anti-totalitarian narrative that has celebrated resistance against both communist dictatorship and right-wing authoritarianism as part of a common journey towards a democratic continent. This article analyses the little-studied history of European solidarity movements with Greece during …
Entangled Transitions
Ever since the fall of the Iron Curtain and the enthusiasm it inspired about the potential for European unity and democracy, it has become fashionable to see post-war European history in terms of convergence. Historians have researched the integration of the European continent into the global, in the context of the Cold War, decolonisation and economic globalisation. Internally, processes of convergence are seen to link the trajectories of nation…
European Reconfigurations of Transnational Activism
The overthrow of the democratically elected socialist president Salvador Allende in Chile and the human rights violations under the military junta of Augusto Pinochet spawned one of the most iconic and sustained human rights campaigns of the Cold War. Human rights scholars have argued that this movement on behalf of Chile signalled the “breakthrough” of human rights as the lingua franca of transnational activism. They have emphasized the global d…
The Eastern Bloc, Human Rights, and the Global Fight against Apartheid
Anti-apartheid advocacy allowed Eastern Bloc countries to reframe their ideological language of solidarity towards African countries into a legalist rhetoric during the 1960s and 70s. Support for international anti-racial discrimination law and self-determination from colonial rule reinforced their ties to Africa after the disenchantment of the Hungarian Uprising. Rights activism against apartheid showcased the socialist Bloc’s active contributio…
Literature alerts
Amsterdam University Press is a leading publisher of academic books, journals and textbooks in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Our aim is to make current research available to scholars, students, innovators, and the general public. AUP stands for scholarly excellence, global presence, and engagement with the international academic community
Civil Engagement and Cultural Transfers between Central and Eastern European Migrants and the Low Countries (from the 1930s to the Present)
status: Published
Failures, Limits and Competition
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 righ…
Poland and Nicaragua
Despite the manifold and contradictory parallels drawn between Poland and Nicaragua during the 1980s, strikingly little is known about the origins of these connections, the actors involved, and the wider concrete flows and exchanges that were at work between these two countries who each played a pivotal role during the sunset years of the Cold War. This article analyses the imagined common struggles, networks and ideas that brought Poland and Nic…
Political science (16 works) · Law (14 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Political economy (11 works) · Politics (11 works) · Communism, Protests, Social Movements (10 works) · Law (10 works) · Solidarity (10 works) · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics (7 works) · Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics (7 works)