scholarly journals Image Politics and the Construction of Public Opinion: Readings into the Arab Spring Context

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (10) ◽  
pp. 01-10
Author(s):  
Mariem Himmi
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
The Public ◽  
Arab Uprisings ◽  
Multiple Reactions ◽  
The World ◽  
Public Reaction ◽  
The Arab Spring

Images are ubiquitous in today's modern society. They tend to be taken for granted and their power is underestimated. However, images do not just reflect the world around us, but they construct reality. They can be inspirational and ideological, as they can trigger a political conscience. They now accompany every occurring event; they update and form the public. The Arab Spring context represents an image-saturated revolution wherein images have proved to be an effectual weapon and a catalyst of a massive public reaction and mobilization. The present paper studies images as a medium that is loaded with messages and is capable of shaping public opinion. It explores the different meanings encoded within these images, as it analyses their effectiveness on the public during and after the last Arab uprisings. The paper also ponders upon the reason why some images raise multiple reactions, and push leaders and masses to action.

Lessons from the South

CounterText ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-97
Author(s):  
Iain Chambers
Keyword(s):  
Arab Spring ◽  
Common Factor ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
The West ◽  
The Public ◽  
Arab Uprisings ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Arab Spring

Iain Chambers' essay challenges explanations of the Arab Spring emerging from the Occidental media, arguing that the terms of engagement set by the Arab revolts can no longer be unilaterally defined by the West. Chambers stresses the centrality of the Mediterranean as an increasingly evident site of confluence between East and West and between North and South. He goes on to argue that the events of the Arab Spring reopen the Western cultural and political lexicon, and put into question the historical alliance between Christianity and the universalising discourses of modernity. Ideas regarding the individual, the public sphere, political agency, religion, secularism and the state are necessarily being renegotiated in the context of the uprisings. The lived experiences of the Arab Spring slip beyond Western constructions of the events to expose the political and cultural burden of a modernity that may no longer be determined or managed single-handedly by the West. The Arab uprisings have occurred in the same time frame as protests in several European capitals, particularly since the fiscal collapse of 2008, and while there are distinct differences in these social unrests there is also, Chambers observes, a common factor: the rejection of the hypocrisies of the modern state. The new perspectives emerging from this confluence of experience around the shores of the Mediterranean may yield a more radical humanism within social, cultural, and political formations that are not automatically circumscribed by the global dictates of neoliberalism.

Critical International Relations Theories and the Study of Arab Uprisings: A Critique

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-150
Author(s):  
Ahmed M. Abozaid
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
The Other ◽  
Arab Uprisings ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
Western Perspective

This study articulates that most of the critical theorists are still strikingly neglecting the study of the Arab Uprising(s) adequately. After almost a decade of the eruption of the so-called Arab Uprisings, the study claims that the volume of scholarly engaging of dominate Western International Relations (IR) theories with such unprecedented events is still substantially unpretentious. Likewise, and most importantly, the study also indicates that most of these theories, including the critical theory of IR (both Frankfurt and Habermasian versions), have discussed, engaged, analysed, and interpreted the Arab Spring (a term usually perceived to be orientalist, troubling, totally inappropriate and passive phenomenon) indicate a strong and durable egoistic Western perspective that emphasis on the preservation of the status quo and ensure the interests of Western and neoliberal elites, and the robustness of counter-revolutionary regimes. On the other hand, the writings and scholarships that reflexively engaged and represent the authentic Arab views, interests, and prospects were clearly demonstrating a strong and durable scarce, if not entirely missing. Keywords: International Relations, Critical Theory, Postcolonial, Arab Uprising(s), Middle East, Revolutions.

scholarly journals GCC Media Roles during the 2011 Arab Spring: An Analytical and Critical Overview

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullah K. Al-Kindi
Keyword(s):  
Arab Spring ◽  
Main Question ◽  
Gulf Region ◽  
The Public ◽  
Gcc Countries ◽  
The Media ◽  
Contextual Characteristics ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
Critical Overview

The central aim of this paper is to critically analyze the role of the media during public protests that occurred in the GCC countries during 2011. These protests were part of what came to be called the “Arab Spring”, which started in late 2010. Particular focus will be on how the Arab Spring resulted in fundamental changes and how various institutions played roles in this. The study draws on Gulf region literature about the Arab Spring in order to offer a critical and informed overview on the topic under discussion. The paper’s main question is: what are the main roles played by the GCC media (old/new) during the public protests of 2011? The paper argues that the role of the media in the 2011 protests, while important, was rather limited and affected by the unique contextual characteristics of the media environment in the GCC countries. 

scholarly journals The world public opinion towards the American foreign policy of presidents of the United States of North America in the years 2001–2016

2021 ◽  
pp. 163-184
Author(s):  
Przemysław Potocki
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
World System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Public ◽  
The World ◽  
The Usa

The article is based on an analysis of certain aspects of how the public opinion of selected nations in years 2001–2016 perceived the American foreign policy and the images of two Presidents of the United States (George W. Bush, Barack Obama). In order to achieve these research goals some polling indicators were constructed. They are linked with empirical assessments related to the foreign policy of the U.S. and the political activity of two Presidents of the United States of America which are constructed by nations in three segments of the world system. Results of the analysis confirmed the research hypotheses. The position of a given nation in the structure of the world system influenced the dynamics of perception and the directions of empirical assessments (positive/negative) of that nation’s public opinion about the USA.

Supranational Developments in the European Union: Changeable Balance of the Public Opinion

2014 ◽  
pp. 60-73
Author(s):  
I. Khokhlov
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
External Factors ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mediterranean Countries ◽  
Social And Economic Development ◽  
The World ◽  
State Of The Economy ◽  
Current Instability ◽  
Internal And External Factors

The article is devoted to the consideration of socio-cultural state of the European community during the period of crisis and mass manifestations of protest. In spite of the current instability in the world the EC continues to maintain its “acquis” (the composition of the membership, single currency etc.). This article contains a periodization that reflects tendencies in the trends of public opinion under the influence of internal and external factors. Countries are ranked according to the level of their social and economic development, which allowed to analyze the dependence of public opinion in support of the EC upon the state of the economy. For instance, in the Mediterranean countries that use to be “euroenthusiasts” the level of support became lower than the average for the EC.

The Society of the Digital Swarm

2019 ◽  
pp. 95-110
Author(s):  
Daniel Toscano López
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Digital Communication ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Regimes ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
Reality Principle ◽  
The Way

This chapter seeks to show how the society of the digital swarm we live in has changed the way individuals behave to the point that we have become Homo digitalis. These changes occur with information privatization, meaning that not only are we passive consumers, but we are also producers and issuers of digital communication. The overarching argument of this reflection is the disappearance of the “reality principle” in the political, economic, and social spheres. This text highlights that the loss of the reality principle is the effect of microblogging as a digital practice, the uses of which can either impoverish the space of people's experience to undermine the public space or achieve the mobilization of citizens against of the censorship of the traditional means of communication by authoritarian political regimes, such as the case of the Arab Spring in 2011.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-38
Author(s):  
Adeel Malik ◽  
Izak Atiyas ◽  
Ishac Diwan
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Public Knowledge ◽  
Economic Opportunities ◽  
Arab Uprisings ◽  
Crony Capitalism ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Arab Spring

The popular Arab uprisings in 2011 that overthrew dictators in North Africa (which became known as “the Arab Spring”) were not just a revolt against dictatorships. They were also a rebuke to crony capitalism—against insider businessmen who were connected to the ruling circle and ended up monopolizing all economic opportunities. As the curtain of authoritarianism fell, stories of insider privilege became public knowledge. In Egypt, leading businessmen, such as the steel magnate Ahmed Ezz, became the subject of public resentment due to their close connections with Mubarak. But the circle of privilege was wider, including a narrow clique of businessmen associated with the National Democratic Party that supported Mubarak’s rule and derived all kinds of economic privileges denied to unconnected firms. In Tunisia, the president Ben Ali, his wife, and extended family were believed to have owned about 220 firms in some of the most lucrative sectors of the economy....

15. The Arab Spring: The ‘People’ in International Relations

2019 ◽  
pp. 339-367
Author(s):  
Larbi Sadiki
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
External Interference ◽  
Arab Uprisings ◽  
The People ◽  
Media And Technology ◽  
The Arab Spring

This chapter looks at the Arab uprisings and their outcomes, approaching them from the perspective of the peoples of the region. The Arab uprisings are conceived of as popular uprisings against aged and mostly despotic governments, which have long silenced popular dissent. Ultimately, the Arab uprisings demonstrate the weakness of traditional international relations, with its focus on states and power, by showing how much the people matter. Even if the Arab uprisings have not yet delivered on popular expectations, and the Arab world continues to be subject to external interference and persistent authoritarian rule, they are part of a process of global protest and change, facilitated by new media and technology, which challenges the dominant international relations theories.

Protest and Regime Change: Different Experiences of the Arab Uprisings and the 2009 Iranian Presidential Election Protests

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-170
Author(s):  
Kamran Rabiei
Keyword(s):  
Arab Spring ◽  
Regime Change ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Green Movement ◽  
Arab Uprisings ◽  
Stability And Instability ◽  
Degree Of Stability ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
Significant Factors

Political developments, such as the ‘Arab Spring’, have led the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) towards instability, unrest and severe sectarian confrontations. Nearly 2 years before the ‘Arab Spring’, ‘the Iranian Green Movement’ swept over the country and led to the expectations that Iran would undergo a fundamental political change. The article addresses an important question as to why the 2009 Iranian unrest known as the ‘Green Movement’ did not lead to regime change, while on the other hand, the ‘Arab Spring’ ultimately led to the change of political systems in Tunisia and Egypt. Further, some significant factors are highlighted anticipating the degree of stability and instability for the future of political regimes in the MENA region.

scholarly journals Hybrid Group MCDM Model to Select the Most Effective Alternative of the Second Runway of the Airport

Symmetry ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 792 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zenonas Turskis ◽  
Jurgita Antuchevičienė ◽  
Violeta Keršulienė ◽  
Gintaras Gaidukas
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Assessment ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Original Model ◽  
Performance Criteria ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
The Public ◽  
Project Life Cycle ◽  
The World ◽  
Project Life ◽  
Hybrid Group

Sustainable and efficient development is one of the most critical challenges facing modern society if it wants to save the world for future generations. Airports are an integral part of human activity. They need to be adapted to meet current and future sustainable needs and provide useful services to the public, taking into account prospects and requirements. Many performance criteria need to be assessed to address issues that often conflict with each other and have different units of measurement. The importance of the criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of alternatives varies. Besides, the implementation of such decisions has different—not precisely described in advance—effects on the interests of different groups in society. Some criteria are defined using different scales. Stakeholders could only evaluate the implemented project alternatives for efficiency throughout the project life cycle. It is essential to find alternative assessment models and adapt them to the challenges. The use of hybrid group multi-criteria decision-making models is one of the most appropriate ways to model such problems. This article presents a real application of the original model to choose the best second runway alternative of the airport.

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