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Book Cover
E-book
Author Nordenson, Jon, author

Title Online activism in the Middle East : political power and authoritarian governments from Egypt to Kuwait / Jon Nordenson
Published London ; New York : I.B. Tauris, 2017
©2017

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Description 1 online resource (xiv, 402 pages) : illustrations
Series Library of modern Middle East studies ; 191
Library of modern Middle East studies ; 191.
Contents Introduction -- How should we understand online activism? -- How should we study online activism? -- The Egyptian case: the context, the issue, and my findings -- The Kuwaiti case: the context, the issue, and my findings -- Comparing the cases -- Assessing the campaigns -- Understanding online activism -- Online activism in Egypt and Kuwait: conclusions
Summary Does the internet facilitate social and political change, or even democratization, in the Middle East? Despite existing research on this subject, there is still no consensus on the importance of social media and online platforms, or on how we are to understand their influence. This book provides empirical analysis of the day-to-day use of online platforms by activists in Egypt and Kuwait. The research evaluates the importance of online platforms for effecting change and establishes a specific framework for doing so. Egypt and Kuwait were chosen because, since the mid-2000s, they have been the most prominent Arab countries in terms of online and offline activism. In the context of Kuwait, Jon Nordenson examines the oppositional youth groups who fought for a constitutional, democratic monarchy in the emirate. In Egypt, focus surrounds the groups and organizations working against sexual violence and sexual harassment. This book shows how and why online platforms are used by activists and identifies the crucial features of successful online campaigns. Egypt and Kuwait are revealed to be authoritarian contexts but where the challenges and possibilities faced by activists are quite different. The comparative nature of this research therefore exposes the context-specific usage of online platforms, separating this from the more general features of online activism. Nordenson demonstrates the power of online activism to create an essential 'counterpublic' that can challenge an authoritarian state and enable excluded groups to fight in ways that are far more difficult to suppress than a demonstration
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 328-389) and index
Notes Print version record
SUBJECT Facebook (Electronic resource) -- Political aspects -- Egypt
Facebook (Electronic resource) -- Political aspects -- Kuwait
Facebook (Electronic resource) fast
Subject Online social networks -- Political aspects -- Egypt
Online social networks -- Political aspects -- Kuwait
Internet and activism -- Egypt
Internet and activism -- Kuwait
Protest movements -- Egypt -- History -- 21st century
Protest movements -- Kuwait -- History -- 21st century
Revolutions -- Middle East
PSYCHOLOGY -- Social Psychology.
Online social networks -- Political aspects
Internet and activism
Protest movements
Revolutions
Egypt
Kuwait
Middle East
Genre/Form History
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2018379514
ISBN 9781786721266
1786721260