Description
This presentation will examine how techniques and claims associated with “open-source intelligence” constitute a new mode of discourse of warfare, and how this new mode of discourse shapes the experience of war among democratic publics. Since its use as a public investigative technique was pioneered by organisations such as Bellingcat and Forensic Architecture, “OSINT” has gained wide currency as a means of perceived truth-telling, used to reveal hidden violence and contest governmental accounts. However, it is also used by state actors to reinforce official accounts and disseminate credible-seeming propaganda and misinformation. The War in Ukraine and the 2023 Israel offensive into Gaza gave rise to a proliferation of “OSINT” claims, less as an investigative technique and more as a rhetorical strategy meant to convey authority and validity. In this presentation, I examine the spread of “OSINT” as a category of discourse, how it shapes communications about war, and what conceptions of power and truth-making underlie its popularity. I argue that its prevalence as a discourse of war and violence shapes how knowledge of military violence is produced and conveyed.
