The face of evil in the era of liberal peace : media debates around the cases of Jyllands-Posten and Charlie Hebdo

Abstract

At the turn of the millennium, media reports fixed their attention on terrorist threats to Western centres of power. In the context of post or neo-colonial relationships, media texts often linked these threats to conflicts in failed or weak states. While the end of the Cold War supposedly ushered in a period of liberal peace, Islam and the anti-terror ideology quickly replaced Communism as the new enemy; with ‘anti-terrorism’ and the ‘war on terror’ constructing the new Face of Evil. Although the media have a strong potential to nurture dialogue among civilizations, mediated texts often popularized the thesis of a clash of civilizations expounded by Huntington (1996). Clashes among seemingly incompatible cultures became matter-of-fact in a world of intense global political, economic and social interactions. This chapter discusses the controversies around the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten and the French magazine Charlie Hebdo. These debates include old issues and emerging dilemmas related to media representations of the Face of Evil. The chapter begins with a historical perspective that explores the ways in which states employed the media to advance their ambitions. The two cases will then be considered in relation to this theme and to two different approaches to the exercise of freedom of expression. The libertarian view of freedom of communication will be discussed vis à-vis the waves of anti-Islam hysteria that virtually swept Europe. This will be contrasted to the social responsibility approach to communication. The chapter will argue that a return to social responsibility theories of communication may open opportunities for more dialogue and less confrontation and so this approach may enhance peace on national, regional and global levels.