ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors argue that global changes have ushered in new forms of memory cultures transforming the national premises that hitherto dominated collective identifications, breaking down the dichotomy between local and cosmopolitan solidarities. Public negotiations about memories of failures to address past human rights abuses (for example legislative measures, historical revisionism, educational measures and commemorative practices), the author argues, shape the balance of particular identifications and universal mandates. Hence they consider the recent proliferation of human rights ideals as a new form of cosmopolitanism, exemplifying a dynamic through which global concerns become part of local experiences. The cosmopolitan turn and the proliferation of human rights and recognition are closely related to the aforementioned changes in moral sentiments since 1945. From a cosmopolitan perspective, however, universal human rights and particular national interests no longer exist as two extremes. Much of the debate on cosmopolitanism revolves around implicit or contested understandings of belonging.
