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Imagining Ourselves Beyond the Nation? Exploring Cosmopolitanism in Relation to Media Coverage of Distant Suffering
Author(s) -
Kyriakidou Maria
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
studies in ethnicity and nationalism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.204
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1754-9469
pISSN - 1473-8481
DOI - 10.1111/j.1754-9469.2009.01062.x
Subject(s) - cosmopolitanism , solidarity , nationalism , sociology , relation (database) , media studies , aesthetics , dimension (graph theory) , political science , law , art , mathematics , database , politics , computer science , pure mathematics
Major humanitarian crises and disasters broadcasted around the world are often accompanied by an upsurge of global reactions and outpouring of aid pledges. As such, they become symbolic of a ‘global community’ and ‘cosmopolitan solidarity’. The present paper examines this kind of cosmopolitanism and the role of the media in its construction, providing an empirical dimension to a hitherto largely theoretical discussion. Drawing upon focus group discussions with audience members in Greece, the paper will explore how media disasters are being experienced by audiences and the ways this experience is implicated in their perceptions of the world and their place in it. Focusing on the constant interplay between cosmopolitan and national discourses in participants' responses, it will be argued that cosmopolitanism and nationalism cannot be sharply juxtaposed, but cosmopolitanism is often framed through the national.