De-Sensitization to the Spectacle of War(s)

Social media platforms, such as Instagram, in the contemporary times, has become a liminal space with no dearth of images and testimonies of violence in all forms and manifestations coming from Gaza (Palestine) to Manipur (Northeast India). The visuals of the violence are visceral and can have tangible emotional effect.

Despite this acute intensity of the spectacle/visuals of the violence of war present on our screens, consumed by individuals across the world, it can be argued that there is a certain de-sensitization, a kind of indifference (Ghassan Hage, 2024) that is being manufactured through social media. I argue that the indifference to the other, the images of whom are circulated mindlessly has become not only the symptom of the culture of indifference but also the condition of it. This paper is going to explore the simultaneity of the intensification of spectacle of the war(s) and the de-sensitization towards the other as a result of it. To this extent, this paper/discussion intends to highlight the social, political and psychological cost de-sensitization.