Remembering global disasters and the construction of cosmopolitan memory

Debates on the relationship between media and memory have recently focused on the potential of globally mediated events to expand collective memory beyond national borders, to what Levy and Sznaider (2006, 2010) have described as "cosmopolitan memory". This article critically engages with the concept of cosmopolitan memory and provides an empirical contribution to the relevant debate drawing upon a study of focus group discussions with Greek audiences remembering global disasters. The article argues that the memories of these events place audience members within a global community of viewers simultaneously witnessing the same events. However, they do not necessarily challenge the primacy of the nation as a moral community, therefore lacking the moral dimension implicit in the concept of cosmopolitan memory.