Effigy hanging and burning, a specific theatrical form of political protest, has become increasingly visible in the news media, particularly in protests against United States military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, in US domestic politics and in the Arab Spring. Taking these events as points of departure, Göttke investigates the conditions of this visual genre of protest, its roots and genealogies in a number of countries, its aesthetics and politics.
Effigy protests communicate communal outrage over experienced injustice. Hanging and burning effigies is an archaic and ritualistic form of protest, yet is effectively communicated by global news media, and social media, mediated and used trans-nationally. The books contains two interacting narratives: text (seven chapters) and a parallel assemblage of images. It delves deeply into the different practices, iconologies, rituals, protest and media strategies, politics, and concludes on how the effigy protests act as a symptom of fundamental conflicts at the limits of contemporary liberal democracy.
With many images, examples from the United States, the Middle East, Iraq, Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan, and many other areas.
