O PRZENIKANIU RZECZY – WOJNA, KULTURA, POLITYKA .......... 7

THE INTERCONNECTION OF THINGS: WAR, CULTURE, AND POLITICS

The chapter explores the complex interplay between materiality, culture, and politics in the context of war, emphasizing the dynamic and performative nature of objects during crises. Drawing on the concept of the “social life of things” and actor-network theory, it demonstrates how objects – from uniforms and weapons to symbols, images, and memes – become actors and mediators shaping networks of agency. War reorganizes meanings and functions of things, assigning emotional, economic, spiritual, and political values, while embedding them in narratives legitimizing violence. The analysis also addresses the role of digital technologies in creating hybrid entities and the influence of algorithms on memory management and disinformation. The emergence of “information bubbles” and cognitive asymmetry fosters social polarization, making media literacy and institutional regulation essential for informational security. The chapter also raises questions about the repetitiveness of war, its mimetic and ritual dimensions, and how institutions and discourses sustain the attractiveness of violence in the era of hybrid conflicts.