Digital Middle East: State and Society in the Information Age

by Mohamed Zayani (Editor)

Overview

In recent years, the Middle East's information and communications landscape has changed dramatically. Increasingly, states, businesses, and citizens are capitalizing on the opportunities offered by new information technologies, the fast pace of digitization, and enhanced connectivity. These changes are far from turning Middle Eastern nations into network societies, but their impact is significant. The growing adoption of a wide variety of information technologies and new media platforms in everyday life has given rise to complex dynamics that beg for a better understanding.
Digital Middle East sheds a critical light on continuing changes that are closely intertwined with the adoption of information and communication technologies in the region. Drawing on case studies from throughout the Middle East, the contributors explore how these digital transformations are playing out in the social, cultural, political, and economic spheres, exposing the various disjunctions and discordances that have marked the advent of the digital Middle East.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190859329
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/15/2018
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Mohamed Zayani is Professor of Critical Theory at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar and Research Fellow at the University of British Columbia's Liu Institute for Global Issues. He is the author of the award-winning book Networked Publics and Digital Contention.

Table of Contents

PART I: DIGITAL CULTURES AND ONLINE VOICES

1. The Changing Nature of Socialization among Arab Youth: Insights from Online Practices
Ilhem Allagui

2. Virtual Worlds, Digital Dreams: Imaginary Spaces of Middle Eastern Video Games
Vít Šisler

3. Mediated Experience in the Egyptian Revolution
Mark Allen Peterson

4. Women's Voices Online: Making Change in the Middle East
Annabelle Sreberny

5. From the Souk to the Cyber-Souk: Acculturating to e-Commerce in the MENA Region
Norhayati Zakaria

PART II: DIGITAL DISJUNCTIONS AND CYBER-POLITICS

6. Domesticating Foreign Intellectual Property Laws in the Digital Age: Of Pirates and Qarsana in the GCC
Suzi Mirgani

7. Working For Free: Hidden Social and Political Economies of the Internet in the Middle East
Jon W. Anderson

8. Digital Rights Activism after the Arab Spring: Internet Governance Politics and the Internet Freedom Proto-Regime
Muzammil M. Hussain

9. Citizenship and Cyber-Politics in Iran
Gholam Khiabany

10. E-Government in the GCC Countries: Promises and Impediments
Damian Radcliffe

Editorial Reviews

"Digital Middle East offers a comprehensive analysis of how information and communication technologies fit into the ongoing evolution of Middle Eastern politics, economies, and societies." —The Middle East Journal

"Mohamed Zayani has gathered an impressive array of experts to analyze the impact of information and communication technologies in Middle Eastern societies. This book will be of great value to anyone interested in the evolution of civic culture in the Middle East."— Philip Seib, Professor of Journalism, Public Diplomacy, and International Relations, University of Southern California, author of The Al Jazeera Effect: How the New Global Media Are Reshaping World Politics

"This is a timely and important book that offers a rich, interpretive and comparative account of how different countries and actors across the Middle East adapted and adopted new media technologies. It will be an important resource for scholars, students and policy-makers interested in understanding digital transformations in the region."—Dr Dina Matar, Senior Lecturer in Arab Media and Political Communication, SOAS, author of The Hizbullah Phenomenon: Politics and Communication

"This collection is an important contribution to our understanding of how digital communication is impacting the Middle East. It goes far beyond the classic focus on cyber activism and political change, bringing to the fore the much-needed discussion of digital platforms' influence on daily practices. Moving away from simplistic binaries, the book presents a pertinent dissection of the new hybrid communication sphere, marked by the coexistence of old and new, conformity and modernism, digital and non-digital." — Fatima el-Issawi, Senior Lecturer in Journalism, University of Essex, Senior Visiting Fellow at the Department of International Development, London School of Economics, author of ^

"This is an important contribution not only to Middle East studies, but also to media studies and political science. Blending original research with expert commentary and informed analysis, this groundbreaking collection helps move the discussion on the digital era from abstract puffery toward concrete assessments."—Joe F. Khalil, Associate Professor, Northwestern University in Qatar

"Edited by one of the leading scholars of digitally mediated transformations of Middle Eastern society and politics, this volume offers a multifaceted assessment of the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) across the region." — China International Strategy Review

From the Publisher