Vol. 9, Iss. 2, 2015

Complete issue as PDF

A Safe Refuge? Minorities and the State in Iranian Cyberspace

10 Nov 2015

A Safe Refuge? Minorities and the State in Iranian Cyberspace
Bronwen Robertson, James Marchant Editorial The Iranian state has consistently restricted spaces in open society for minorities to express their identities, especially where such identities are construed as representing a threat to the religious, political and sexual orthodoxies promulgated by the clerical establishment. As a result, many members of assorted Iranian minority groups have taken to cyberspace to build communities, articulate self- and group-identities, organise to overcome discriminatory practices, and…

Editorial

Online Social Research in Iran: A Need to Offer a Bigger Picture

10 Nov 2015

Online Social Research in Iran: A Need to Offer a Bigger Picture
Ali Honari Article Given the limits of in-country and survey research in closed societies, the World Wide Web – in particular online forums - offers an alternative field for observing and understanding these societies and their development. However, the praise given to the Internet’s role in bringing about political change in Arab uprisings and the 2009 elections post protests has resulted in a tendency in the existing literature…

Article

Arab Iranians and Their Social Media Use

10 Nov 2015

Arab Iranians and Their Social Media Use
Ahmed Al-Rawi, Jacob Groshek Article Arab Iranians have a special status in Iran and the Middle East. Due to their Arab origins, they are sometimes viewed as the “other” for being different from ethnic Persians, while many Arab countries regard them as the “other” as well perceiving them as being Iranians more than Arabs. This study investigates the media landscape and conflict that is linked to the Ahwazi Arabs with…

Article

A Page and Its Politics: Situating Kullinā Khālid Saʿīd in Egypt’s Ideological Landscape at the Time of Revolution

10 Nov 2015

A Page and Its Politics: Situating Kullinā Khālid Saʿīd in Egypt’s Ideological Landscape at the Time of Revolution
Robbert Woltering, Rasha Abdulla, Thomas Poell, Bernhard Rieder, Liesbeth Zack Article In discussions concerning the importance of social media in the 25January revolution, a central role is given to the “Kullinā Khālid Saʿīd“ [We’re all Khaled Said] Facebook page. Using an advanced data collection and extraction application called Netvizz, a research team consisting of Arabists and Media studies specialists has collected and analysed all of the posts and comments exchanged through the page. This data set…

Article

2011 Tahrir Square Demonstrations in Egypt: Semantic Structures That Unify And Divide

10 Nov 2015

2011 Tahrir Square Demonstrations in Egypt: Semantic Structures That Unify And Divide
Hakim Khatib Article While literature has focused on political, economic and social indicators to understand the shifts, or rather the fragmentationsof the political scene in Egypt, the role of semiotic constructions was significantly if not totally neglected. This article investigates whether the demands and messages produced by protesters of Tahrir Square in January 2011 have played a role in processes of unification and fragmentation of Egyptians. Following Roland…

Article