February 8 Civil Society Workshop: Ky Woltering presents “Religious Philanthropy to Support Democratization”

12:30 pm

Room 5401 (Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society)

Ky Woltering, PhD Candidate, History, the Graduate Center, CUNY

“Religious Philanthropy to Support Democratization: American Protestant Aid to Germany, 1945-1949”
This paper addressees American Protestant aid to Germans from 1945-1949. Woltering argues sympathetic American Protestant clergy launched an all-out public relations campaign to convince the American people that unless Christians supported Germans materially and spiritually, “totalitarianism” was sure to retake the country and the European continent as a whole. The result was a staggeringly successful aid campaign which preceded and eventually morphed into a Christian justification for the Marshall Plan. This process solidified free-market capitalism as synonymous with Christian identity in America, while also sacralizing American aid to Europe in the fight against totalitarianism. This presentation is an excerpt from Ky’s dissertation, entitled “’A Christian World Order:’ Protestants, Democracy and Christian Aid to Germany, 1945-1961.”

We are happy to announce that the Civil Society Workshop starts the new season! You can find the Spring 2018 schedule here. This semester, we will be meeting Thursdays, at 12:30 in room 5401 (Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society).