Dr Mohamed Kirat
By Dr Mohamed Kirat
Many observers thought that with the advent of the Arab Spring, a new Arab sphere will be in the making, inducing political participation and therefore democracy. To those analysts the rallies and demonstrations in public squares and public places was the birth of a virtual public sphere through Facebook and social media. After the overthrow of the dictators, things however didn’t get any better since the mass media in those countries failed to move things forward into a democratic system where the masses can express their opinion and views and challenge the powers in the system about making decisions and drawing their destiny.
The rise of Arab news media has created a new situation in which public opinion and political action can be shaped outside of traditional political elites in the Middle East, and there are new possibilities for Arab consciousness and union, as well as diversity and conflict within and new dialogues with the West. Arab peoples cannot claim democracy without having a strong, engaged and professional media system. As far as the media are in the hands of governments and some entities which are more supportive of the ruling power than the government media itself, talking about democracy is a waste of time and resources. Public sphere in this situation and without enlightened masses and forums of discussions and political participation is as well a mere talk. Things have reached deadlocks in the majority of Arab spring countries because social media are no more capable of doing what they did three years ago where they were able to mobilise the masses in public places and made out of them a force that deposed the dictators.
History shows how popular movements made history whenever a dynamic, effective and more inclusive public sphere emerged.
The transitions of Western Europe to democracy in the 18th century, for example, were preceded by an unusual wave of debate associations, public gatherings and previously unseen inclusion of female voices in the public sphere. In the second half of the eighteenth century in France, for instance, social gatherings for exchanging ideas among citizens were the core of intellectual, cultural and literary exchange in Paris. The Arab Spring was in many ways different from the City of Athena and the Commune of Paris. However, it too was marked by the powerful emergence of a public sphere across many countries in the region, with large numbers of citizen voices driving a new public discourse through social media, establishing alternative opinion leaders and calling for revolts against their undesirable leaders.
But with the failure of the transitional period in the majority of Arab Spring countries, one cannot help but wonder: Has the previously vibrant public sphere disappeared in these countries? An atmosphere of intense polarisation has gripped Arab Spring nations, and social media — once celebrated as ‘liberation technology’ in the early days of the revolutions — seem to be increasing, not minimising , social divisions. A strong and powerful public sphere does not emerge, nor sustain itself, automatically. It must be cultivated, nurtured and preserved in order for citizens to be able to form opinions, constructively engage those they disagree with, and make informed decisions through democratic processes and elections. In contexts where the public sphere no longer functions, even the value of free and fair elections is significantly diminished because they become an expression of a dormant or fabricated public opinion, rather than popular will. Public sphere cannot emerge in a vacuum, in absence of a strong civil society, professional and free media and engaged masses who want to draw their own destiny.
New western political views and trends emerged in the early nineties of the twentieth century forecasting new positive changes in political communication in the Arab world as a result of the proliferation of new technologies of communication and information. Such new technologies like social networks will produce a more democratic public sphere which will be more involved in public issues and more concerned about the community and public affairs. These theses were biased and influenced by the desires of western countries to see reforms and changes in a region ruled since a long time by authoritarian regimes. It is almost impossible to talk about public sphere in the Arab World outside the boundaries of sustainable development and democratic political participation and justice in Arab societies. Some analysts believe that “Islamocracy” as a principle and as a concept is the best way to achieve the new Arab public sphere, which is based on Islamic moral values and practices of contemporary politics. The new principle will achieve intercommunication among the Arab nations, and embodies the dialogue between different cultures in the world.
Arab media if freed and being professional and engaged can play a pivotal role in the enrichment of public sphere through the promotion of cultural identity and political participation in Arab societies. One cannot search for a clear framework with straightforward principles for a strong media system with a coherent identity without putting together a sociopolitical theory based on the Arab Islamic values and modern traditions of political and social participation within an effective and dynamic civil society. The media system doesn’t work in a vacuum, but rather embodies always intellectual and cultural visions prevailing in society within a clear, integrated and coherent approach based on a system that combines originality represented in the great values of Islam, and modernity represented in contemporary political works and practices.
After more than two hundred years since Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Egypt, the Arab world is still looking for a compromised vision that combines harmoniously between the values and traditions of the Arab-Islamic heritage and the Western practices in various aspects of contemporary life. The search is still on and continues to exist, but rather increased with the beginning of the nineties of the last century, as a result of the demise of Communism and the end of the Cold War and the dominance of globalisation on various aspects of life in the four corners of the universe as well as in the Arab world.
Mohamed Kirat is a Professor of Public Relations and Mass Communication at the College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University.
By Dr Mohamed Kirat
Many observers thought that with the advent of the Arab Spring, a new Arab sphere will be in the making, inducing political participation and therefore democracy. To those analysts the rallies and demonstrations in public squares and public places was the birth of a virtual public sphere through Facebook and social media. After the overthrow of the dictators, things however didn’t get any better since the mass media in those countries failed to move things forward into a democratic system where the masses can express their opinion and views and challenge the powers in the system about making decisions and drawing their destiny.
The rise of Arab news media has created a new situation in which public opinion and political action can be shaped outside of traditional political elites in the Middle East, and there are new possibilities for Arab consciousness and union, as well as diversity and conflict within and new dialogues with the West. Arab peoples cannot claim democracy without having a strong, engaged and professional media system. As far as the media are in the hands of governments and some entities which are more supportive of the ruling power than the government media itself, talking about democracy is a waste of time and resources. Public sphere in this situation and without enlightened masses and forums of discussions and political participation is as well a mere talk. Things have reached deadlocks in the majority of Arab spring countries because social media are no more capable of doing what they did three years ago where they were able to mobilise the masses in public places and made out of them a force that deposed the dictators.
History shows how popular movements made history whenever a dynamic, effective and more inclusive public sphere emerged.
The transitions of Western Europe to democracy in the 18th century, for example, were preceded by an unusual wave of debate associations, public gatherings and previously unseen inclusion of female voices in the public sphere. In the second half of the eighteenth century in France, for instance, social gatherings for exchanging ideas among citizens were the core of intellectual, cultural and literary exchange in Paris. The Arab Spring was in many ways different from the City of Athena and the Commune of Paris. However, it too was marked by the powerful emergence of a public sphere across many countries in the region, with large numbers of citizen voices driving a new public discourse through social media, establishing alternative opinion leaders and calling for revolts against their undesirable leaders.
But with the failure of the transitional period in the majority of Arab Spring countries, one cannot help but wonder: Has the previously vibrant public sphere disappeared in these countries? An atmosphere of intense polarisation has gripped Arab Spring nations, and social media — once celebrated as ‘liberation technology’ in the early days of the revolutions — seem to be increasing, not minimising , social divisions. A strong and powerful public sphere does not emerge, nor sustain itself, automatically. It must be cultivated, nurtured and preserved in order for citizens to be able to form opinions, constructively engage those they disagree with, and make informed decisions through democratic processes and elections. In contexts where the public sphere no longer functions, even the value of free and fair elections is significantly diminished because they become an expression of a dormant or fabricated public opinion, rather than popular will. Public sphere cannot emerge in a vacuum, in absence of a strong civil society, professional and free media and engaged masses who want to draw their own destiny.
New western political views and trends emerged in the early nineties of the twentieth century forecasting new positive changes in political communication in the Arab world as a result of the proliferation of new technologies of communication and information. Such new technologies like social networks will produce a more democratic public sphere which will be more involved in public issues and more concerned about the community and public affairs. These theses were biased and influenced by the desires of western countries to see reforms and changes in a region ruled since a long time by authoritarian regimes. It is almost impossible to talk about public sphere in the Arab World outside the boundaries of sustainable development and democratic political participation and justice in Arab societies. Some analysts believe that “Islamocracy” as a principle and as a concept is the best way to achieve the new Arab public sphere, which is based on Islamic moral values and practices of contemporary politics. The new principle will achieve intercommunication among the Arab nations, and embodies the dialogue between different cultures in the world.
Arab media if freed and being professional and engaged can play a pivotal role in the enrichment of public sphere through the promotion of cultural identity and political participation in Arab societies. One cannot search for a clear framework with straightforward principles for a strong media system with a coherent identity without putting together a sociopolitical theory based on the Arab Islamic values and modern traditions of political and social participation within an effective and dynamic civil society. The media system doesn’t work in a vacuum, but rather embodies always intellectual and cultural visions prevailing in society within a clear, integrated and coherent approach based on a system that combines originality represented in the great values of Islam, and modernity represented in contemporary political works and practices.
After more than two hundred years since Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Egypt, the Arab world is still looking for a compromised vision that combines harmoniously between the values and traditions of the Arab-Islamic heritage and the Western practices in various aspects of contemporary life. The search is still on and continues to exist, but rather increased with the beginning of the nineties of the last century, as a result of the demise of Communism and the end of the Cold War and the dominance of globalisation on various aspects of life in the four corners of the universe as well as in the Arab world.
Mohamed Kirat is a Professor of Public Relations and Mass Communication at the College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University.
