Global citizenship as showbusiness: the cultural politics of Make Poverty History

What does global citizenship mean in the public sphere of a Western state? As part of an historically unprecedented, globally co-ordinated, NGO-led campaign against poverty in the under-developed South, ‘Make Poverty History’ attempted to give this question an answer. Cultural politics was integral to the campaign: Make Poverty History was not only mediated (as all campaigns must be); it aimed to form global citizens with obligations to non-nationals outside the territorial boundaries of the state within national media. One of the most interesting aspects of this attempt was the engagement with popular culture and the importance of mobilising emotions in relation to distant suffering. This article discusses the extraordinary originality of this campaign in terms of its aims and means, and draws conclusions from its attempt to achieve cosmopolitan solidarity.