Fahed Al-Sumait - Böcker

Starting in 2001, much of the world media used the image of Osama bin Laden as a shorthand for terrorism. Bin Laden himself considered media manipulation on a par with military, political, and ideological tools, and intentionally used interviews, taped speeches, and distributed statements to further al-Qaida's ends.  In Covering Bin Laden, editors Susan Jeffords and Fahed Yahya Al-Sumait collect perspectives from global scholars exploring a startling premise: that media depictions of Bin Laden not only diverge but often contradict each other, depending on the media provider and format, the place in which the depiction is presented, and the viewer's political and cultural background. The contributors analyze the representations of the many Bin Ladens, ranging from Al Jazeera broadcasts to video games. They examine the media's dominant role in shaping our understanding of terrorists and why/how they should be feared, and they engage with the ways the mosaic of Bin Laden images and narratives have influenced policies and actions around the world.  Contributors include Fahed Al-Sumait, Saranaz Barforoush, Aditi Bhatia, Purnima Bose, Ryan Croken, Simon Ferrari, Andrew Hill, Richard Jackson, Susan Jeffords, Joanna Margueritte-Giecewicz, Noha Mellor, Susan Moeller, Brigitte Nacos, Courtney C. Radsch, and Alexander Spencer.

The uprisings of 2011 have radically altered the political, economic, and social landscapes of the Middle East and North Africa. A clearer view of the recent past now provides greater perspectives on the causes and the consequences of these events. This collection of essays challenges the common tendency of applying the dominant frame of “Arab Spring” to explain contemporary politics of the Middle East. Numerous debates about the utility of the “Arab Spring” metaphor already exist, contesting such issues as its foreign origins or its temporal and optimistic implications. It further has the negative and significant side effect of implying a singularity to these events in a manner that often defies the varied conditions on the ground. This is why the term “Arab Uprisings” is used here as the organizing frame to address numerous socio-cultural, economic, political, experiential, and communicative aspects of the uprisings. This text is organized around three themes: origins, experiences, and trajectories. The first section addresses catalyzing factors that help explain the emergence of the uprisings from various political, economic, and socio-cultural perspectives. The second section examines the functions and responses of diverse people, institutions, and ideologies during the initial years of the uprisings. It includes an in-depth case study on women’s changing political situation in the catalyzing country of Tunisia, as well as discussions about the roles of political Islam, new mass media, and social networks in these rapidly changing contexts. The third section discusses cross-national implications and the multitude of repercussion the uprisings are having on the global system. Using an interdisciplinary approach with contrasting theoretical and methodological orientations, the global experts who contributed the chapters explore various theoretical approaches, juxtaposing them with comparative surveys and in-depth case studies. They show that after the initial euphoria (or dread) that surrounded the uprisings, a transitional and transformative period in the Middle East has come that requires thorough observation and analysis.