‘Beyond anything we have ever seen’: beheading videos and the visibility of violence in the war against ISIS

Abstract

This article examines the role of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria's (ISIS's) beheading videos in the United Kingdom and the United States. These videos are highly illustrative demonstrations of the importance of visual imagery and visual media in contemporary warfare. By functioning as evidence in a political discourse constituting ISIS as an imminent, exceptional threat to the West, the videos have played an important role in the re‐framing of the conflict in Iraq and Syria from a humanitarian crisis requiring a humanitarian response to a national security issue requiring a military response and intensified counterterrorism efforts. However, this article seeks to problematize the role and status of ISIS's beheadings in American and British security discourses by highlighting the depoliticizing aspects of reducing a complicated conflict to a fragmented visual icon. The article concludes by emphasizing the need for further attention to how the visibility of war, and the constitution of boundaries between which acts of violence are rendered visible and which are not, shape the political terrain in which decisions about war and peace are produced and legitimized.

Perception of Western governments’ hostility to Islam among European Muslims before and after ISIS: the important roles of residential segregation and education

“…Since the emergence of ISIS, there has been a growing pressure on Muslims, exerted by the mainstream media and non‐Muslim populations of European countries, to distance themselves from ‘extremists’ by publicly denouncing ‘Islamic terrorism’ and presenting themselves as ‘peaceful and loyal citizens’ (Van Es ). Violence and brutality of ISIS, by some observers, is considered to be ‘beyond anything we have ever seen’ (Friis ). ISIS’s horrific actions, such as beheading, mass murder, and enslavement have shocked all the people around the globe, including Muslins (Lewis 2017).…”

From Caliphate to Hyperreality: A Baudrillardian Reading of the Islamic State's Mediatization of Savagery

“…The preceding argument begs two important caveats: First, regardless of what strategic objective is being exactly pursued by the IS’s cult of brutality, it seems irrefutable to posit that IS's tech‐savvy use of social and visual media (mediatization of spectacular violence) plays a vitally instrumental role in the militant group's psychological warfare, of which the management of savagery is a key part. Hence, the IS's jihadi journals such as Dabiq, Rumiyah , and the Al Bayan radio station as well as other social networking platforms such as Twitter, function as discursive tools that the group strategically deploys to communicate with its audience and to show how far it is willing to go to fulfill its state‐building project (Friis, , p. 730). Second, to make the idea of living in the Islamic caliphate more appealing, at least to its transnational audience, IS also uses mediatization of savagery to generate aesthetically seductive and ideologically promising “regimes of truth” (Foucault, , pp.…”

“…For one thing, absent its flagship media outlets (print and/or online) such as Dabiq , Rumiyah (IS's new periodical magazine), Al‐Bayan (IS's official radio station), and the use of social media platforms like Twitter, Telegram, and YouTube, the IS would have not been able to stir supporters from more than 100 countries toward its utopian vision and counter potential threats to its statehood project. Therefore, much of the exceptionality of IS (Friis, , p. 744) lies in its meticulous deployment of mediatization techniques and the visual management of savagery which are arguably aimed at creating an intersubjectively manufactured reality (hyperreality), that is a full‐functioning Islamic caliphate in the Middle East and beyond.…”

Unter der Fahne des Kalifats

“…Zwar gibt es bereits einige wissenschaftliche Arbeiten, die sich mit inhaltlichen Rahmensetzungen des IS beschäftigt haben und dabei explizit die Bedeutung von Bildmaterial hervorheben (vgl. etwa Klausen 2015;Winter 2015;Zelin 2015;Molin Friis 2015). Die Frage, ob Bilder dabei eigene thematische Rahmen setzen oder wie sich umgekehrt thematische Rahmen in Bildern manifestieren, blieb bislang allerdings unterbelichtet.…”

“…beschäftigt sich mit der Frage, welchen Einfluss die Sichtbarkeit (visibility) der Videos bzw. einzelner Screenshots auf politische Legitimationsstrategien und Entscheidungsprozesse in den USA und in Großbritannien genommen hat und macht damit die strategische Bedeutung von Sichtbarkeit im Rahmen politischer Prozesse deutlich (vgl Molin Friis 2015)Bredekamp 2013 3.…”