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Globalization, the Internet and Mass Mobilization: The Post-Election Citizen Journalism in Iran
Abstract
With the emergence of the Islamic Republic following the 1979 Revolution in Iran, the conservative and religious clerics who seized power have tried their utmost to disconnect Iran from the world and the globalization process. The American hostage crisis, eight years of devastating war with Iraq (1980-88), isolation, economic sanctions and the nuclear issue have all helped further strengthen the belief of the theocratic regime that the world is set to ruin the ideological goals and achievements of the Islamic state. The conspiracy theory runs deep among the ruling conservative clerics and every effort has been made to disassociate the young and the educated Iranians from the world and the globalization process This paper is a study of the aftermath of the June 12th 2009 elections when the incumbent president Mr. Ahmadinejad was declared the winner following widespread rigging and ballot fixing. When millions of Iranians took to the streets, the reprisal of the conservative government of Ahmadinejad was harsh and brutal. The widespread publicity of the shooting of Neda Agha Sultan shocked the world and the government reacted by expelling foreign journalists and limiting further access to the internet. Despite all efforts by the Islamic Republic to silence the protest movement, the Movement, has gained greater momentum. While there is no organization or a single leadership leading the Greens, yet a chain of common elements tie them together. The research intends to show how the opposition by the use of social networking, and the internet, recreated and re-invented ingenious ways to reach out to the world as citizen journalists. At a time of poorly organized and inept institutional control, the Green Movement has managed to make significant progress that has shocked the world and has set a precedent on the efficient use of the internet for mobilization and opposition.
Discipline
Political Science
Geographic Area
Iran
Sub Area
19th-21st Centuries