Polar Bears and Gavels: Visual Advocacy in the Criminalization of Ecocide.

This article examines the role of visual advocacy—the strategic use of imagery—in shaping international criminal law (ICL), focusing specifically on the campaign to criminalize severe environmental destruction as "ecocide." Through a qualitative visual content analysis of 68 images posted by the NGO Stop Ecocide International on social media in 2022, the study explores how victimhood is depicted, framed, and linked to legal authority within ecocide advocacy. Findings reveal that while the campaign innovatively extends victimhood to non-human entities such as animals and landscapes, it simultaneously reproduces established anthropocentric and aesthetic tropes common in ICL, including the portrayal of vulnerable, individualized victims and the use of conventional legal symbols. The article highlights structural constraints—such as the political economy of international criminal justice, cultural contexts, and social media dynamics—that limit the emancipatory potential of visual advocacy, and calls for further interdisciplinary research into the increasing visuality of international law and its implications.