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Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Communication studies
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The Digital Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy - Information Technology and Political Islam (Paperback, New)
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The Digital Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy - Information Technology and Political Islam (Paperback, New)
Series: Oxford Studies in Digital Politics
Expected to ship within 10 - 15 working days
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Around the developing world, political leaders face a dilemma: the
very information and communication technologies that boost economic
fortunes also undermine power structures. Globally, one in ten
internet users is a Muslim living in a populous Muslim community.
In these countries, young people are developing their political
identities-including a transnational Muslim identity-online. In
countries where political parties are illegal, the internet is the
only infrastructure for democratic discourse. In others, digital
technologies such as mobile phones and the internet have given key
actors an information infrastructure that is independent of the
state. And in countries with large Muslim communities, mobile
phones and the internet are helping civil society build systems of
political communication independent of the state and beyond easy
manipulation by cultural or religious elites. This book looks at
the role that communications technologies play in advancing
democratic transitions in Muslim countries. As such, its central
question is whether technology holds the potential to substantially
enhance democracy. Certainly, no democratic transition has occurred
solely because of the internet. But, as Philip Howard argues, no
democratic transition can occur today without the internet.
According to Howard, the major (and perhaps only meaningful) forum
for civic debate in most Muslim countries today is online.
Activists both within diasporic communities and within
authoritarian states, including Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan,
are the drivers of this debate, which centers around issues such as
the interpretation of Islamic texts, gender roles, and security
issues. Drawing upon material from interviews with
telecommunications policy makers and activists in Azerbaijan,
Egypt, Tajikistan and Tanzania and a comparative study of 74
countries with large Muslim populations, Howard demonstrates that
these forums have been the means to organize activist movements
that have lead to successful democratic insurgencies.
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