Wenn Hunger droht

Hunger is an elementary threat to human life - even today. The authors of this volume analyse how Christians in the West fought hunger, but also how they interpreted it religiously. In late Middle Ages and early modern times, hunger was viewed as a scourge God used to punish omnipresent sin. In the trade and nutrition crises of our highly industrialised world, a social Catholicism has been developing, which is increasingly effective at combating want and need, but which, at the same time, is intertwined with fundamental criticism of political and economic orders. Following the Second World War, Europe experienced a »feeding frenzy« while disturbing pictures of starving people in Africa's Sahel region appeared simultaneously in the media. What can the West do if the perception of hunger moves away only to go global? Is the West bringing about its own downfall by not getting a grip on underdevelopment and the destruction of the environment?