JUSTICE AS A MEDIA-AFFECT IN DIGITAL CULTURE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31392/cult.alm.2026.2.26Keywords:
justice, media-affect, digital culture, affective publics, algorithmic visibility, moral outrageAbstract
The article examines the changing modes of existence of justice in digital culture, where moral judgment is shaped not only through rational justification but also through affective circulation, algorithmic visibility, and participatory practices. Justice is presented as a media-affect – a platform-conditioned, narratively organized, and collectively experienced moral self-evidence. The aim of the article is to conceptualize justice as a media-affect in digital culture and to identify the conditions under which digital media transform the moral experience of the contemporary subject. The study is based on phenomenological approach, hermeneutic interpretation, and cultural analysis of media practices. The theoretical framework consists of the concepts of justice developed by A. Sen, N. Fraser, and R. Forst; affect theory as represented by B. Massumi, S. Ahmed, and M. Wetherell; platform studies; and research on digital moral outrage. The article demonstrates that digital justice is formed at the intersection of normative demand affective intensity, platform visibility, narrative organization, and performative participation. Social media not only disseminate messages about injustice but also establish the conditions for its public recognition through algorithms, hashtags, reposts, moral-emotional language, and online shaming. The case of George Floyd demonstrates the ambivalence of this process: it can mobilize solidarity and make violence visible, but it can also replace complex judgment with the intensity of outrage. Conclusions. Justice in digital culture does not lose its normative content; however, it changes the form of its public existence. Affect may become the starting point of moral attention, but it requires reflection, contextualization, proportionality, and the right to justification
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