Images and International Relations : Analysing the images of children in the Syrian war

Abstract: This thesis examines the study of images in International Relations (IR). Even though images play an important role in global politics, images have received little attention by IR scholars. In this thesis I aim to answer how images can be studied. I conduct two analyses, which I call ‘single image analysis’, and ‘multiple images analysis’ to answer the research question of ‘how did images of children in the Syrian war shape global political narratives and identities´. I argue that images of children in the Syrian war though their emotional value (re)produced as Syrian identity of ‘misery’, ‘chaos’, and ‘hopelessness’. And images (re)produced narratives of who is ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Two analyses are conducted to discuss the different ways images can be analysed. I argue that single image analysis and the multiple images analysis have their own strengths and weaknesses and applicable in different cases. Also, I argue further theoretical and methodological discussions on how to study images would benefit IR as a whole.