Daesh media production is complex, multifaceted, and is arguably a representational microcosm of the organization as a whole. Claiming universality as an Islamic State for the entire Muslim Umma, debates about its statehood status continue without clear resolution.
In this essay Michael Degerald argue that, rather than a proto-state, a failed state, or a functioning state, Daesh isn’t a state at all in the normal sense; it is an incomplete state. By analyzing infographics published in issues 10-74 of the Arabic language al-Naba’ magazine, issued by Daesh between December 19, 2015 and March 30, 2017, we can think more deeply about this incomplete statehood, and how these infographics try to patch it over.
The subject at hand is at the crux of studies of jihadi media use and debates about the nature of the state.
