Citation

Mehran W. J. Theoret. Philos. Criminol. 2019; 11(2): 79-97.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, David Polizzi)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Throughout history and across different cultures, militant groups have used children as spies, informants, soldiers and for various other propaganda purposes. (Honwana 2011) Not much has changed with the passage of time. The use of children by ISIS is a modern-day continuation of these trends. However, what sets ISIS apart from other terrorist groups (e.g. the Taliban, Boko Haram, Al Shabab, and Al Qaeda) is the fact that ISIS has not only been training children at a large scale, but has also used children extensively for its propaganda campaign. This paper analyses ISIS videos featuring children through the analytical framework of the "spectacle of violence" literature and illustrates that depiction of children as actors and performers of ultra-violence in a theatrical scene, is a visual rhetoric of humiliation and a counter-narrative that juxtaposes the inversion of roles of children and adults.

Available: http://www.jtpcrim.org/SPECED2019/Mehran.pdf

Language: en