scholarly journals RELIGION, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL CHANGE: REPRESENTATIONS OF MUSLIM WORLD IN ACADEMIC ANALYSES OF THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE ARAB SPRING

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeela Arshad Ayaz
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Muslim World ◽  
Neoliberal Globalization ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
The Arab Spring

This article deconstructs the dominant constructions and portrayals of the Muslim world in literature on social media and civic engagement in relation to the Arab Spring. A critical reading of literature on social media and ‘Arab Spring’ shows that analyses by Western scholars and commentators are still grounded in ‘modernist dualism’ and orientalist understandings. The article starts by tracing the history of technology to argue that analyses of social media’s educational and civic potential within the Western context in general, is continuation of arguments about earlier technologies in relation to societal development. However, when it comes to analyzing social media and civic engagement particularly in the Muslim world this tendency gets muddled with another well-established trend, that of Orientalism. The overall impact of this tendency results in restricting majority of arguments within the essentialists/determinists paradigm. Such analyses essentialize the technological aspects of social media as universal and constitute the West as civilized, democratic, multicultural, and progressive. On the other hand Muslim world is represented as uncivilized, undemocratic, uncultured, and chained in past traditions. Thus, there is a need for a nuanced understanding of the relationship between the social media and civic engagement in the Muslim world, which can be conceptualized by framing the issues within a postcolonial critique of neoliberal globalization. DOI: 10.15408/tjems.v1i2.1264

scholarly journals Social Media as a Tool for Political Resistance: Lessons from the Arab Spring and the Nigerian Protests

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-66
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Ufuophu-Biri ◽  
Lucky Ojoboh
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
The Self ◽  
Political Resistance ◽  
The Social ◽  
Self Immolation ◽  
The Arab Spring

Abstract The popular revolutions that swept across North Africa and the Middle East (NAME) countries, popularly called the “Arab Spring”, removed several sit-tight regimes and threatened to remove some others. Until those revolutions, nobody in the region had the audacity to question the actions of the governments. The mass media in the region had no freedom of operation and could not be used to express opinions or ideas that contradicted government wish or stand. However, the self-immolation of Tarek al-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi on 17 December, 2010 in Tunisia and his subsequent death led to an unstoppable torrent of protests across the region. The social media became the tool of communication, organization and coordination during the protests. The social media thus provided the protesters with an alternative voice of expression, which they used to mobilize and organize the protests. This study therefore, examined the role of the social media in the the Arab Spring. The study which is theoretical concludes that the use of the social media was very effective in success of the revolution.The study showed that without the social media, the revolution might not have been successful or might not have taken place at all. The study thus recommends that people should continue to use the social media to protest against oppressive regimes and all forms of oppression.

scholarly journals Caliphatism in the period of decline and collapse of the Ottoman Empire

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 327-337
Author(s):  
Svetlana A Kirillina ◽  
Alexandra L Safronova ◽  
Vladimir V Orlov
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Ottoman Empire ◽  
Muslim World ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Role ◽  
Muhammad Rashid Rida ◽  
Political Actions

The article analyses the historical role of the movement for defenсe of the Caliphate, which emerged in various regions of the Muslim world as a response to weakening and fall of the Ottoman Empire. The authors also focus on the social and political discussions of the 1920s - 1930s about the destiny of Muslim unity and the role of the future Caliphate. The article also deals with the transformation of conceptions of the Caliphate in the works of eminent ideologists and politicians of the Muslim world - Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi, Muhammad Rashid Rida and Abul Kalam Azad. The authors give an overview of the history of Caliphatist congresses and conferences of 1920s - 1930s. The aims and tasks of the Caliphatist movement among the Muslims of South Asia are also under study. The article examines the reaction of the South Asian princely elites to the weakening of the Ottoman state and explores the interrelation between pro-Ottoman sentiments of Caliphatists and the radicalization of anti-colonial struggle of Indian Muslims. A special attention is given to the role of leaders of Indian Caliphatists in preparation of the antiBritish uprisings in North-Western Hindustan. The authors also examine common and specifi c features of views and political actions of advocates and supporters of the Caliphate in the Middle East and in the Islamic communities of South Asia. The analysis of the source data reveales several patterns of reaction of Muslims in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia to the repudiation of the Caliphate by the Republican Turkey.

scholarly journals THE EMERGENCE OF STATE SPHERE IN SOCIAL MEDIA: A POLITICAL BALKANIZATION IN MALAYSIA

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 811-819
Author(s):  
Badrul Mohamed ◽  
Mohammad Agus Yusoff ◽  
Zawiyah Mohd Zain ◽  
Dori Efendi
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
News Reporting ◽  
Political Experience ◽  
Political Events ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
Ruling Party

Social media has phenomenally replaced the traditional media. Blogs have transformed news reporting; YouTube has reinvented talent sourcing; and the trinity (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube) have revolutionary changed the rules of the game of regime change. Enabling commoners to be producers and its interactiveness are the two most important characteristics that grant the ordinary citizens to be extra-ordinary. From Tinseltown to Alexandria, the roles of social media has been unstoppably growing. The world political events in the recent times, particularly the Arab Spring have shown a strong correlation between social media and democratization. Malaysias political experience in recent years, in particular the 12th General Election (GE-12) in 2008 is comparable to the Arab Spring in view of the alluring role of social media and its gladiatorial impacts in politics. The failure of Barisan Nasional (BN or National Front, the only ruling party since independence) to retain its customary two-third majority in GE-12 is a proof of peoples growing desire to enjoy democracy that among others offer free and fair elections, good-governance, and social justice which are dissimilar to existing communalism and strong government. At a glance, GE-13 in 2013 produced similar results as GE-12 which displayed fortification of democracy among citizens. In contrast, further analyses toward the details of GE-13 surfaced the revival of communalism and autoritarinism which have shown signs of decay in GE-12. Thus, this article explores the conflictual roles of social media which (has been functioning as an ideal public sphere) when the ruling party together with the state machinery invade the sphere of social media to satisfy their political agenda. This investigation showcases the anarchic sphere in social media is not only capable in catalyzing democratization, but also undermining democracy by propagating political Balkanization that propels disjointed feelings among multi-racial citizens.

scholarly journals Wikileaks and consequences for modern diplomacy – observations by a foreign policy practitioner

Politik ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jørgen Ørstrøm Møller
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
Civic Society ◽  
The People ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Type ◽  
The Arab Spring

Wikileaks did not reveal much we did not know about U.S. foreign policy already. e true revelations were – as many had suspected – that some foreign leaders pursue a di erent foreign policy agenda than the of- cial one. Sources providing information to foreign diplomats will be more prudent from now on. e main impact is a new type of diplomacy bypassing leaders to communicate directly with the people – increasing people’s power and highlighting the growing importance of civic society and the social media. e ability to intensively monitor social media also brings a markedly better understanding of the domestic context of foreign countries. Events surrounding the Arab spring bears testament to this. 

Sociale media en oude routines

2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebeca De Dobbelaer ◽  
Steve Paulussen ◽  
Pieter Maeseele
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
User Generated Content ◽  
Tv News ◽  
Foreign News ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Sociale Media ◽  
The Arab Spring

Social media and old routines. The role of social media in the TV news coverage of the Arab Spring Social media and old routines. The role of social media in the TV news coverage of the Arab Spring This study investigates the use of social media as a source of information for Belgian broadcast journalists covering the Arab Spring in 2011. We conducted a content analysis of the 7 o’clock news on the Flemish public broadcasting channel Eén and its commercial competitor VTM, from January 1st till March 31st. We found that user-generated content from YouTube contributed to 30% of all news items about the Arab Spring, while 8% of the news items referred to social media other than YouTube. Interviews with four foreign news editors confirm the growing importance of social media for newsgathering despite the professional prudence with respect to the veracity of user-generated content. At the same time, however, the increased use and visibility of social media in the foreign news does not seem to affect the dominance of institutional sources, such as major news agencies Reuters and APTN and international media like BBC and CNN. The study concludes that conventional routines and standards of professional gatekeeping shape the use of social media in contemporary journalism.

Framing the revolution: the role of social media in Ukraine's Euromaidan movement

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 758-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Surzhko-Harned ◽  
Andrew J. Zahuranec
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Issue Framing ◽  
Protest Movements ◽  
Original Dataset ◽  
The Social ◽  
Foreign Media ◽  
Ukrainian Crisis ◽  
The Arab Spring

The role of social media as a tool of mobilization, communication, and organization of social movements has been well documented since the Arab Spring. The public information posted on social media sites also presents researchers with a unique tool to study protests movements from within. The proposed study utilizes the theoretical foundation of issue framing literature and examines the social media framing of the Ukrainian Euromaidan protest movement. The original dataset traces the activities of the users on the social media site Facebook from 21 November 2013 to February 2014. While foreign media sources portrayed the Ukrainian crisis as a geopolitical struggle, the results of our analysis show that the participants of the protest conceptualized their movement in terms of domestic issues and an anti-regime revolution rather than a geopolitical crossroad between the EU and Russia. This study contributes to our understanding of the role social media sites play in the activities of protest movements, such as Euromaidan. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of social media as a tool of issue framing on par with the traditional sources of framing such as mass media and political elites.

Social Media and Social Mobilisation in the Middle East: A Survey of Research on the Arab Spring

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Smidi ◽  
Saif Shahin
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Scholarly Journals ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Mobilisation ◽  
The Media ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Temporal Focus ◽  
The Arab Spring

The role of the media, and especially the social media, in the Arab Spring has been extensively debated in academia. This study presents a survey of studies published in scholarly journals on the subject since 2011. We find that the bulk of the research contends that social media enabled or facilitated the protests by providing voice to people in societies with mostly government-controlled legacy media; helping people connect, mobilise and organise demonstrations; and broadcasting protests to the world at large and gaining global support. Some scholars, however, argue that social media played only a limited or secondary role, which ought to be viewed alongside other social, political, economic and historical factors. We also identify the spatial and temporal focus of the research and preferred theoretical and methodological approaches and draw attention to several blind spots that require further investigation.

2011: The Year Everything Nothing Changed

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Thomas Swann
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Self Organisation ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Arab Spring

Chapter One introduces the connections between anarchism and cybernetics against the backdrop of what will be referred to throughout the book as the 2011 uprisings (Occupy, the Arab Spring, 15M/Indignados, the UK riots). The chapter highlights the apparent role of leaderless self-organisation in these uprisings and the perceived use of social media as an organising tool therein. It is argued that the examples of the 2011 uprisings show that there is a need for an in-depth understanding of how self-organisation and social media-backed organisation can and do operate.

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