The Universal King? Memory, Globalization, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

This article examines how Martin Luther King, Jr. is remembered and represented by journalists in Ghana, South Africa, and Mexico, looking at coverage of critical discourse moments from King's life and legacy (1963-2016). I argue that representations of King vary in terms of local resonancehow well foreign figures or events align with local myths, values, and expectationsand global saliencethe perceived world historical importance of a past figure or event. I then propose a new typology of global memory reception. I would like to thank Philip Smith, Christopher Wildeman, Jeffrey Alexander, Ron Eyerman, Frederick Wherry, and the participants of Yale University's Center for Cultural Sociology Workshop for their support and observations on this project. I also thank the anonymous Sociological Inquiry reviewers for their comments and suggestions.