Call for Papers: Edited book
'New media in the midst of the Tunisian revolution'
Satellite TV and the internet have transformed the media landscape in the
Arab and Muslim world. Although their development is a recent phenomenon,
new media have not only opened up new opportunities for journalism but
also empowered audiences and civil society organizations with
unprecedented platforms for 'free' expression and social activism. The
WikiLeaks phenomenon is said to have empowered the public with a wealth of
secret information previously hardly if not impossible to obtain about
governments in the Arab world.
In light of the dramatic development of events, which have led to a social
revolution in Tunisia, it has become evident that new media have been
playing a key role in keeping the momentum going, and bringing the voices
of the disengaged Tunisian youth to the attention of world media, and
hence to international public opinion. Mobile phones, Blogs, YouTube,
Facebook pages and Twitter feeds have been instrumental in mediating the
live coverage of protests, public speeches, as well as police brutality in
dispersing demonstrations. The internet in this case has assumed the role
of a very effective uncensored news agency from which world media have
been able to freely source newsfeeds, raw from the scene. Such
developments have proven very significant in changing the rules of the
game, of journalism production, and dissemination of information in a
country where the government historically keeps tight control on the media
and where almost no platform has been available for opinions critical of
the political elite.
The edited book project aims to address the above themes. We seek
contributors who wish to specifically address the revolution in Tunisia
and the role new media have been key tools in fuelling the regime change.
Contributions may consider the following themes:
- Blogging and bloggers as citizen journalists; what difference have they
been making?
- Satellite TV and the internet as cites of resistance/alternative media
or sets of 'censored national enclosures'
- Arab TV and the mobilization of public opinion in Tunisia
- E-campaigning and political/social groups
- WikiLeaks, political corruption and the right to know
- How are activists/the youth interacting with platforms like 'YouTube',
'Facebook' to fuel the protests that have led to the collapse of Ben Ali's
regime?
- Media censorship in Tunisia
- Women bloggers/activists and the mediation of women issues
- Youth subcultures and new media
- Support/responses of the Arab street to the Tunisia revolution
Submissions:
Please send an abstract of about 350 words for your proposed paper by
Sunday 30th January 2011. The abstract should provide and outline of the
main themes/questions, research method and sample of the study. Please
make sure that your abstract includes the following: Title, name of the
author, affiliation, complete contact details and a short author's bio.
Final papers should be about 8500 words. All submissions will be refereed.
Deadline for submission of full papers: 25th March 2011
Please send your abstract to:
Dr Noureddine Miladi (Editor)
School of Social Sciences, University of Northampton,
Park Campus, Northampton NN2 7AL, UK
E-mail: (noureddine.miladi /at/ northampton.ac.uk)
Tel: +44(0)1604 892104
