Beyond Conventional Approaches to Political Violence: ISIS Beheadings as Performances (original) (raw)

This dissertation proposes an approach to political violence as performance, specifically in relation to beheadings carried out by militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Previous research on beheadings and executions carried out by armed groups has focused exclusively on sensationalist, strategic and culturalist approaches to political violence, thereby neglecting useful interdisciplinary perspectives. Additionally, the growing volume of scholarship within the field of performance studies dedicated to analysing the significance of violence as a performance has not given sufficient attention to executions and beheadings. The model adopted by this study addresses these two gaps in the literature. By advancing an understanding of ISIS beheadings as performances, this study’s main claim is that such an approach would allow for a more nuanced analysis than simple conventional perspectives. The argument is substantiated by an in-depth analysis of five ISIS beheading videos and the role they played in the US and UK. The findings of this research reinforce the main claim of this study. Beyond supporting this theoretical model, the findings also prompt a re-thinking of how violence committed by terrorist groups should be assessed and analyzed.