ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 turns to terrorism in a post-9/11 era, and the subsequent effects of the War on Terror on how death is mediated. Drawing on the theory of the spectacle, the chapter scrutinizes beheading videos that have garnered high levels of press attention since they were released in a concerted campaign by the group calling itself the Islamic State (or Daesh). These videos abide by a new “death regime” inaugurated by 9/11, it argues, and concludes with thoughts on the ethico-political impact of this new spectacle of terror, asking what it may mean for understanding life in the current political moment marked by “terror.”
