The Optics of War: Seeing Civilians, Enacting Distinctions, and Visual Crises in International Law

Sensing Law, ed. by Sheryl Hamilton ed al. (Routledge, 2017)

Posted: 28 Mar 2017

See all articles by Christiane Wilke

Christiane Wilke

Carleton University - Department of Law and Legal Studies

Date Written: January 21, 2017

Abstract

How do NATO officers see civilians in Afghanistan? The paper focuses on the contested counts of casualties, especially civilian victims, after the 2009 Kunduz air strike. Drawing on studies of visualities in war, photography, and the social construction of the civilian, the chapter argues that civilians are not simply 'seen' but produced through 'siting prisms' that include military visual technologies.

Keywords: war, visual technology, Afghanistan, civilian, combatant, war on terror, International Humanitarian Law, violence

Suggested Citation

Wilke, Christiane, The Optics of War: Seeing Civilians, Enacting Distinctions, and Visual Crises in International Law (January 21, 2017). Sensing Law, ed. by Sheryl Hamilton ed al. (Routledge, 2017), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2938630

Christiane Wilke (Contact Author)

Carleton University - Department of Law and Legal Studies ( email )

Department of Law, C 473 Loeb
1125 Colonel By Drive
Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://www2.carleton.ca/law/about/wilke.php

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