The Good, the Bad, and the Needy: Discourses of Helpfulness after the 2020 Earthquakes in Croatia

Abstract

When heavy earthquakes hit southcentral Croatia at the end of December 2020, the general readiness to help those who lost their material everything, or even loved ones, was remarkable. People and institutions all over the country (self-)organized relief actions, ranging from fundraising to packing their toolboxes and heading towards the affected regions. Based on the rich media coverage ensuing these so-called Petrinja earthquakes, named after the town that was most affected, the author analyzes the discourse of helpfulness triggered by the disaster. As she shows, this discourse revealed not only a great affective momentum regarding the survivors of the catastrophe (“the needy”), but also clearly moralist stances of what was deemed right (“the good”) as opposed to wrong (“the bad”) with regard to how people sought to help.