Guardians of memory: Mobilizations and conflicts of appropriation surrounding post-terrorist attack memorials in Madrid, London, and Paris

Based on three ethnographic settings in Paris, Madrid, and London, this article analyzes conflicts of appropriation surrounding post-terrorist attack memorials. These conflicts reveal tensions between the public memorialization of terrorist attacks and more personal relationships to such events. From these tensions a specific category of actors emerges: “guardians of memory” who feel that it is their duty to intervene at these sites in order to preserve victims’ memories.