ABSTRACT
The introductory chapter argues that it is of pressing scholarly and societal importance to understand the shifting role of images in conflicts. Digital images and social media reconfigure the way conflicts are played out, represented and perceived. Images are mobilised as sites of resistance and protest, called upon and debated as evidence, shared as commemorative acts following violent attacks, regulated and censored, accused of being misinformative, appropriated and repurposed, and (dis)ordered in increasingly complex systems. The introductory chapter addresses the myriad and often-diverging character of images on social media that emerge through, and in response to, conflict: Who are the actors taking, mobilising and verifying images? How are these images understood and how do they come to represent conflicts? What vested interests are involved in promoting or disputing their significance and legitimacy, and in which ways do they impact online and offline worlds? Furthermore, what role is played by social media platforms in determining which images we see or do not see from conflicts?
