Enemy Images

Enemy Images examines the 'enemy images' that appear in political rhetoric, where adversaries are portrayed as less than human. Such portrayals serve various purposes, including making violent conflict seem legitimate. The book gives a detailed account of how these images work.

Kristian Steiner applies theoretical models to a wide range of historical and recent examples. They include blood libel narratives in medieval manuscripts, state-sponsored children's board games in Nazi Germany, and social media posts about the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. Through these cases, the book shows how enemy images have helped establish dominant sociopolitical paradigms by justifying and reinforcing violent conflicts, both within societies and between them.

The book is also meant as an up-to-date, accessible overview of how to identify, analyze, and counteract enemy images. This knowledge is presented as important for building social environments that support reconciliation and peacebuilding. It is aimed at students and scholars of peace and conflict studies, International Relations, history, political sociology, and communication studies.