The Social Media Wars: Sunni and Shi'a Identity Conflicts in the Age of Web 2.0 and the Arab Spring

This soon to be released monograph evaluates the role of the social media in strengthening and transforming religious identities in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. Focusing specifically on Bahrain, this study assesses how the sectarian interpretation of the protests exacerbated social divisions and reverberated around the Middle East intensifying sectarian loyalties. The social media contribute to negotiation and re-construction of the collective identities of the groups involved in the 2011 uprising, which is visible through their online manifestations.
THE ARAB SPRING: the recent uprisings in the Middle East have been commonly called a Facebook Revolution due to the role of social media in gathering supporters, organizing the movement as well as coordinating widespread protests. While new scholarship on the subject has been already emerging, there is a shortage of studies on the post-Arab Spring influence of the social media and their role in identity transformation. The shortage of monographs dealing with the subject of Bahrain is especially acute. This study goes a long way in remedying the dearth of scholarly material analyzing cause and effect and focuses on the enormous role of social media as well as concomitant countermeasures.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface Introduction Chapter 1. Identity, activism and conflict 1.1. Collective identity: the concept 1.2. Collective identity and political activism 1.3. Identity and conflict 1.4. Identity, conflict escalation and de-escalation 1.5. Conclusion Chapter 2. Social media as venues of identity transformation 2.1. Media and social movements: and Internet revolution? 2.2. Social movements online and the question of collective identity 2.3. Online activism and the Arab Spring 2.4. Methodological considerations 2.5. Conclusion Chapter 3. The evolution of Sunni and Shia identities in the Middle East 3.1. Shia collective identity: from the early days to the Iranian Revolution 3.2. The Iranian Revolution and its impact on Sunni-Shia relations 3.3. Conclusion Chapter 4. Bahraini Arab Spring as an identity conflict 4.1. Historical background 4.2. Analysis of conflict factors 4.3. The role of identity in escalation of the Bahraini Arab Spring conflict 4.4. Conclusion Chapter 5. Online activism in Bahrain: an overview 5.1. The implication of rules and regulations for media users 5.2. Coverage of Bahraini protests by local, regional and international media 5.3. Social activism during the Arab Spring and its online manifestations 5.4. Conclusion Chapter 6. Sunni and Shia identities online negotiation 6.1. Sampling 6.2. Self-representation of the opposition movement 6.3. Framing of the opposition by the pro-government movement 6.4. Failure of online dialogue 6.5. Discussion 6.6. Limitations of the study and conclusion Chapter 7. Concluding remarks Bibliography a

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