Surrogate Publics

Abstract

What can global spectators do to give voice and visibility to the suffering of distant others? Chapter 4 introduces the concept of ‘surrogate publics’ to describe the ways in which witnesses to tragedies act as representatives to communities of misery by making claims about their recovery. The case of Haiyan demonstrates how surrogate representatives like celebrity humanitarians, public figures, and ordinary citizens assert the presence of disaster survivors by offering the voice of care and the voice of justice. While the voice of care was successful in sustaining global attention to the spectacle, the voice of justice sustains the political conversation beyond the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. The chapter concludes by examining the legacy of surrogate publics to deliberative politics.