Hanging and burning effigies, scarecrow-like puppets representing politicians, is a specific theatrical form of political protest that has become increasingly visible in news media, particularly in protests against United States military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, in us domestic politics, and in the Arab Spring. Taking these events as points of departure, Göttke investigates the conditions of this visual genre of protest, its roots and genealogies in a number of countries, its aesthetics and politics. Hanging and burning effigies communicates communal outrage over experienced injustice. Although it is an archaic and ritualistic form of protest, it is effectively communicated by global news media and social media. The book contains two interacting narratives: text (seven chapters) and a parallel montage of images. It delves deeply into practices, iconologies, rituals, protest and media strategies, and concludes with a reflection on how effigy protests can be seen as a symptom of fundamental conflicts at the limits of contemporary liberal democracy.