Archive for 2020

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[Commlist] New Journal Issue 13.1 (April 2020) out now (JAMMR)

Sat Apr 11 11:39:07 GMT 2020




I am pleased to announce the publication of _Issue 13.1_ of the /Journal of Arab and Muslim Media Research/ (JAMMR), which has an interesting line up of timely papers. The journal is an international refereed academic platform, published by Intellect in the UK. You may access the papers of this issue as well as other issues from the JAMMR’s homepage.

https://www.intellectbooks.com/journal-of-arab-muslim-media-research

We trust you will find this publication a valuable resource for research about media, communication and society in the Arab World and the Middle East.

*__*

*_JAMMR: 13.1-_*

Volume (13): Issue (1); April 2020.

*‘Our dream is simple: Peace, safe and freedom’: Regime-critical activism and artistic expression by Syrians in Denmark and Sweden’*

*Author:* Josepha Ivanka (Joshka) Wessels <https://www.intellectbooks.com/josepha-ivanka-joshka-wessels>

*Abstract:* This article seeks to understand mediatized dynamics of regime-critical activism and cultural performances by Syrians in Europe. The focus of this research is on the Öresund-region between Denmark and Sweden. Sweden was the first country in Europe to give immediate permanent residence to Syrian refugees. It initially received most of the Syrian refugees in 2015. After the arrival of large groups of Syrians at Malmö station in that year, a growing network of volunteers responded to the influx of refugees. Syrians started to build relationships with local activists and have since joined in organizing publicly mediated events, creating a new landscape for creative industries and performance arts in the region. Applying a protest communication ecology approach, I use a wide definition of media which includes the aesthetics of street demonstrations, performance arts and music, mediated and communicated through digital online platforms. I apply an adjusted concept of communitas, including digital media and online communication as analytical concept to observe and describe not only how communitas is re-formed between Syrian refugees after arrival but also how it emerges between Syrians and local hosts.

*‘Arab resistance in the diaspora: Comparing the Saudi dissident and the Egyptian whistleblower’*

*Authors:* Sahar Khamis <https://www.intellectbooks.com/sahar-khamis> and Randall Fowler <https://www.intellectbooks.com/randall-fowler> *Abstract:* While much research on Arab and Muslim diasporas in the West focuses on the War(s) on Terror, in this article, we explore how two particular diasporic groups, Egyptian and Saudi activists, work to shape public perceptions of the authoritarian regimes in their countries of origin. Contextualizing the efforts of these activists in the post-Arab Spring political and mediated environments, we investigate how these political exiles employ communication to disrupt, expose and resist the resurgent authoritarianism taking root in their countries of origin. Using a comparative framework, we analyse the discourse of two prominent activists, Mohamed Ali and Omar Abdelaziz, to illustrate the larger dynamics of online cyberactivism amongst these diasporic groups. Critically, we argue, the differences in these two activists' communicative practices demonstrate how ostensibly similar resistance movements may lead to disparate political outcomes, as their calls for change diverge when it comes to issues of reform versus revolution. In doing so, we seek to complicate overly simplistic understandings of Arab anti-authoritarian resistance taking place online in the post-Arab Spring era.

*‘Silencing the voice of Bahrain? Regime-critical media and Bahrain’s London diaspora’*

*Author:* Thomas Fibiger <https://www.intellectbooks.com/thomas-fibiger>

*Abstract:* This article discusses the role of a politically mobilized diaspora in the media and politics of Bahrain. The political turmoil of several decades has resulted in the exile of a sizeable community of Bahrainis, and many key activists have settled in London. From here they continue to work with a variety of political activities and a variety of media to put pressure on both Gulf and European regimes. The article traces the development of media forms, from a print newspaper formed out of the diasporic experience, via a particular community-driven homepage opened in Bahrain in 1998, whose creator fled to London after the 2011 'Arab Spring' uprising, to the diversity of the social media that now dominates. In this regard, the role of digital surveillance, and subsequent demobilization and increasing silence, are key to the discussion

*‘Discourse of Yemeni TV broadcasters and the dilemma of regime criticism, 2015–19*’

*Authors:* Mohammed Almahfali <https://www.intellectbooks.com/mohammed-almahfali>

*Abstract:* The discourse of the Yemeni TV broadcasters has undergone major changes since the Arab Spring in 2011. Moreover, since the outbreak of Civil War in 2015, this discourse has been diverse and has become a clear reflection of the contexts in which it is produced. This article analyses Yemeni media discourse by analysing the titles of news reports published on YouTube by five Yemeni TV channels belonging to five diversified discourses in terms of political, ideological, cultural and social orientation. The article adopts discourse framing as a methodological tool, with which we can address media discourse and thus reveal its social, political and cultural contexts. The article concludes that Yemeni TV broadcasters' discourse depends on a limited number of keywords that have a cognitive and cultural balance in Yemeni society, words originally taken from cultural, religious and social backgrounds in the collective memory of Yemen. Knowing these keywords can be employed in different dimensions. While it can contribute to developing the recipient awareness, it can also help to raise the degree of professionalism in media performance in Yemen, especially in the stage of peace-building and post-war.

*‘Supportive, transformative and reverse effects of media on Tunisian diaspora’s political identity’*

*Authors:* Mostafa Shehata <https://www.intellectbooks.com/mostafa-shehata>

*Abstract:* The Tunisian diaspora in Europe has gained significant research interest due to the fundamental changes recently triggered by the Tunisian Revolution with which the diaspora strongly interacted. This article investigates the potential effects of media use on the political identity of Tunisian diasporic communities in Europe, from a sociopolitical communication perspective. Based on 45 interviews conducted with Tunisians living in Denmark, Sweden and France, a special focus has been set on the patterns of media use in relation to components of political identity (homeland orientation, religion and ideology), considering the combined influences of both country of origin and country of residence. The analysis shows that media exerted supportive effects on the diaspora's homeland orientations – a process that likely depended on participants' previous connection with Tunisia. The media also exerted short-term transformative effects on the political ideology and a reverse effect on religious orientations – a process that mainly depended on life in both country of origin and country of residence. This article proposes that this Tunisian diaspora is more likely to construct a hybrid identity, supported by media channels that facilitate the adoption of sociopolitical principles derived from both country of origin and country of residence.

*‘Ambiguous belonging: Media practices among Syrians in Denmark*’

*Author:* Zenia Yonus <https://www.intellectbooks.com/zenia-yonus>

*Abstract:* This article presents two prevailing media orientations among Syrian migrants in Denmark. The purpose is to show how Syrians relate to, and evaluate, mediated content, and how it relates to political action. The orientations are dyadic, and represent both news about the conflict in Syria, as well as Danish politics – migration policies in particular. The first is the ambivalent-localizing orientation that mirrors the twofold orientation towards both Danish and Syrian political events; and the second is the informed-obliterate, in which Syrians choose to drop out of media content about Syria due to mental health issues, or fear for their families still in Syria. The study shows how media practices among diasporic Syrians in Denmark are multidimensional, and puts forward the complexities of identity processes between here and there, between political activism and demobilization, and between gratitude for being safe and never feeling safe. The argument is that, these multi-local processes involve multiple interdependent factors, diverse encounters, as well as a variety of struggles in belonging. Syrians consequently lack agency as well as social, media and political recognition.

*_Book Review: (by _*Mazhar Al-Zo’by <https://www.intellectbooks.com/mazhar-al-zoby>*_)_*

*/‘Revolutionary Egypt in the Eyes of the Muslim Brotherhood: A Framing Analysis of Ikhwanweb/ (*Mohammed el-Nawawy and Mohamad Hamas**Elmasry (2018).


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