[Air-L] CFP: A Safe Refuge? Minorities and the State in Iranian Cyberspace

Vit Sisler vsisler at gmail.com
Thu Sep 25 04:35:25 PDT 2014


A Safe Refuge? Minorities and the State in Iranian Cyberspace

Call for Papers
CyberOrient: Online Journal of the Virtual Middle East
Editor-in-Chief: Daniel Martin Varisco
Guest Editor: Bronwen Robertson and James Marchant
Submission deadline: 30 April 2015 (Full Papers)

Aim

The Iranian state has consistently restricted spaces for minorities to
express their identities, especially where such identities are
construed as representing a threat to the religious, political and
sexual orthodoxies promulgated by the clerical establishment. As a
result, many members of assorted Iranian minority groups have taken to
cyberspace to build communities, articulate self- and
group-identities, organise to overcome discriminatory practices, and
connect with their allies from across national borders and around the
world.

With the election of Hassan Rouhani to the presidency there have been
renewed hopes for an improvement in the position of Iran’s minorities,
though tangible improvements have been slow to materialise. Whilst the
state is slow to take steps that would improve the position of Iran’s
minorities, it is ultimately down to these communities to organise and
find solutions to their myriad concerns.

This special issue of CyberOrient invites contributors to explore how
Iranian minority groups have embraced technology to overcome state
marginalization, strengthen communities, and push back against
entrenched societal prejudices. Topics might include the role of
online networks in community formation; the impact of state filtering
programmes upon minorities; the effectiveness of phone apps in
providing communities with support and education; the extent of access
to communications technology by minority communities; and the capacity
for diaspora organisations and communities to affect the position of
Iranian minorities.

About CyberOrient

CyberOrient (http://www.cyberorient.net/) is a peer-reviewed journal
published by the American Anthropological Association, in
collaboration with the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in
Prague. The aim of the journal is to provide research and theoretical
considerations on the representation of Islam and the Middle East, the
very areas that used to be styled as an “Orient”, in cyberspace, as
well as the impact of the internet and new media in Muslim and Middle
Eastern contexts.

Submission

Articles should be submitted directly to Bronwen Robertson
(bronwen at smallmedia.org.uk), James Marchant (james at smallmedia.org.uk),
and Vit Sisler (vit.sisler at ff.cuni.cz). Articles should be between
6,000 and 8,000 words (including references), and follow the AAA style
in referencing and citations. Upon acceptance, articles will be
published online with free access in Fall 2015.

More information can be found here:
http://www.cyberorient.net/detail.do?articleId=3682


-- 
Vit Sisler, Ph.D.

Charles University in Prague
Faculty of Arts
Institute of Information Science and Librarianship
New Media Studies

http://uisk.jinonice.cuni.cz/sisler/



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