Hungry Children and Networks of Aid in Argentina: Thinking About Geographies of Responsibility and Care

The Argentine economic crisis that began in 2001 resulted in the general impoverishment of the population but had an even stronger effect on the lives of children. Children became the main actors of a national tragedy that received worldwide attention as malnutrition, starvation, and poor health began taking place in one of the most food- and resource-rich countries in the Western Hemisphere. Different voluntary and non-profit networks of aid were created to help children in need. This paper critically assesses the effectiveness of two NGOs that created networks of aid to help needy children. The activities of the NGOs are positioned in relation to an emerging literature on the geographies of responsibility and care. The first network analyzed is an internet-based organization of aid for needy children that operates across Argentina and beyond but that has not been capable of sustaining support from donors and sponsors. The networks' appeal to a totalizing notion of care and its use of universalizing representations of children have been insufficient to personally involve people with the plight of needy children and to sustain the network over the years. On the other hand, the second network analyzed has followed a more relational and personal approach to care and even involved young people across Argentina as active participants in the care of needy children and people in general. The operation and logic behind the two networks of aid represent two models of caring for children and provides insights into the challenges of creating responsible geographies of care.