Image Politics and the Construction of Public Opinion: Readings into the Arab Spring Context

Abstract

Images are ubiquitous in today's modern society. They tend to be taken for granted and their power is underestimated. However, images do not just reflect the world around us, but they construct reality. They can be inspirational and ideological, as they can trigger a political conscience. They now accompany every occurring event; they update and form the public. The Arab Spring context represents an image-saturated revolution wherein images have proved to be an effectual weapon and a catalyst of a massive public reaction and mobilization. The present paper studies images as a medium that is loaded with messages and is capable of shaping public opinion. It explores the different meanings encoded within these images, as it analyses their effectiveness on the public during and after the last Arab uprisings. The paper also ponders upon the reason why some images raise multiple reactions, and push leaders and masses to action.