5th ISA Forum of Sociology (6-11 July 2025)

Contemporary humanitarian crises are unfolding on a dramatic scale, with conservative estimates indicating that over 300 million people worldwide need humanitarian assistance. These crises are diverse and widespread, affecting populations across different regions and contexts. Among the most pressing, some have been highly visualized, such as the war that Israel is waging in Gaza, marked by unprecedented levels of civilian targeting and destruction. Others, such as the conflict in Sudan, remained mostly out of sight. Humanitarian visuality has historically relied on powerful, often graphic imagery to convey the urgency and severity of crises, aiming to elicit empathy and prompt action for distant suffering[1]. Traditional media, such as newspapers and television, have been central to this process and organizations have competed to establish authoritative or hegemonic visual interpretations of crises contributing to create a distinct iconographic repertoire often focused on victimization and exploitative spectacularization. Internet, the diffusion of social media, and the accessibility of digital technologies have revolutionized the role and potential of images, making it easier than ever to take and share photographs.

How has the visuality of humanitarian crises changed in today's communicative context? This panel invites papers discussing the transformation in the visual representation of humanitarian crises in the context of social media and the role that images play in contemporary humanitarian accounts.

[1] Boltanski, Distant Suffering: Morality, Media and Politics.