Digital Activism and Civil Society in the Middle East and North Africa
June 3 & 4 @ Issam Fares Auditorium, American University of Beirut
About the Workshop
As part of the Arab Studies Institute's "The Media Project," the second in a series of critical workshops, conferences, and events will be held in Beirut, Lebanon to address the relationship between digital activism as spurred by the Arab uprisings and civil society institutions and actors.

This workshop and conference, which are co-sponsored by the Arab Studies Institute, the Media Studies Program and the Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship at the American University of Beirut, and the Department of Media Studies at Notre Dame University, aim to convene civil society activists, active researchers, and media practitioners to reflect on the scope of digital activism in the region, with a particular focus on Lebanon and several other countries including Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, and Bahrain. Speakers will discuss the role of digital media activism in promoting civil and political rights in light of renewed challenges to social, economic, and political injustice. Academics with specialization in the respective protest movements will reflect on the possibility of organic transnational solidarity as well as shared visions, goals, and strategies.

This conference will be an integral component of the networking of activists, scholars, media, and intellectuals with an interest in social movements online and the digital dimensions of civil society. The output of the conference will include the publication of a selection of the top papers and interventions from the conference as well as audio lectures and interviews with participants to be posted on ASI’s audio journal Status.

Watch the Conference
Panel 1: Digital Mobilization, Advocacy, & Networking Strategies: Lessons Learned
Keynote 1: Sami Ben Gharbia, “The Limits of Citizen Media Post-Arab Spring”
Keynote 2: Lina Attalah, “Betrayal: Online Media and The New Rules of the Game”
Panel 2: Obstacles & Barriers
Panel 3: Civil Society and the Media: Vision, Messages and Resonance
Panel 4: Going Hyperlocal
Closing Panel: Transnational Solidarity

Participants
Panelists: Imad Bazzi, Lucien Bourjeily, Haramoun Hamieh, Bassam Al Kantar, Diala Haidar, Sarah Jamal, Safa Al-Ahmad, Alaa Shehabi, Lina Attalah, Sami Ben Gharbia, Malihe Razazan, Neamat Badreddine, Jessica Dheere, Mohammad Dibo, Rouba El Helou, Riad Kobeissi, Diana Skeini, Chaker Noon, Habib Battah, Nazeer Rida

Chairs & Discussants: May Farah, Maria Bou Zeid, Adel Iskandar, Shahram Aghamir, Rania Masri, Alicia Cagle, Eugene Sensenig, Layal Banham, Nassim Abi Ghanem

Organizers: May Farah, Maria Bou Zeid, Adel Iskandar, Elie Haddad, Alicia Cagle

Proceedings
Friday, June 3:
8.30-9.00 Registration
9.00-10.30 Panel 1: Digital Mobilization, Advocacy, & Networking Strategies: Lessons Learned
10.30-10.45 Coffee Break
10.45-11.45 Keynote 1: Sami Ben Gharbia, “The Limits of Citizen Media Post-Arab Spring”
11.45-12.45 Lunch (Provided)
12.45-13.45 Keynote 2: Lina Attalah, “Betrayal: Online Media and The New Rules of the Game”
13.45-15.15 Panel 2: Obstacles & Barriers
15.15-15.30 Coffee Break
15.30-17.00 Panel 3: Civil Society and the Media: Vision, Messages and Resonance

Saturday, June 4:
9.30-11.00 Panel 4: Going Hyperlocal
11.00-11.25 Coffee Break
11.30-13.00 Closing Panel: Transnational Solidarity

Closed Roundtable Discussion - Participants Only 

Presentations Schedule

Digital Mobilization, Advocacy, & Networking Strategies: Lessons Learned
This panel will shed light on the role of digital activism in creating and boosting political and social change. The aim is to discuss the tools and tactics adopted by activists for promoting civil and political rights in order to evaluate the strategies implemented in the latest movements during the Arab Uprisings and in Lebanon with the You Stink campaign. It will conclude with the future of social movements online and the digital dimensions of civil society.

Participants:
Imad Bazzi
Lucien Bourjeily
Sami Ben Gharbia
Alaa Shehabi
Habib Battah

Chair: Malihe Razazan
Discussant: May Farah

Obstacles & Barriers
The goal of this panel is to address a panorama of barriers from technical to ideological ones. Discussions may include a description of the obstacles for digital mobilization, and examine different cases in which barriers impact various phases of advocacy (pre-mobilization) and mobilization. 

Participants:
Neamat Badreddine
Jessica Dheere
Rouba El Helou
Sarah Jamal
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Chair: Shahram Aghamir
Discussant: Eugene Sensenig

Civil Society and the Media: Vision, Messages and Resonance
Media can serve positively or negatively the causes and ideas of the civil society and how activists can use the media in advancing the struggle. This third panel will deal with the relation between media/activists and civil society and how they can serve each other.  It will consist of an evaluation of the use of media by activists during the Arab Spring in general and the Lebanese waste crisis in particular and will emphasize the interrelation between traditional and social media on all these levels.

Participants:
Bassam Al Kantar
Safa Al-Ahmad
Riad Kobeissi
Diana Skeini

Chair: Layal Banham
Discussant: Rania Masri

Going Hyperlocal
Hyperlocal media can enhance digital participation reinforcing a sense of community.  Are hyperlocal media platforms popular in the Arab World and MENA Region? How can these platforms serve activists and civil society in their struggle? This panel will tackle how social media is contributing to create and reinforce the pattern of hyperlocal media and how people use such platforms to voice their concerns. Additionally, branching from this point, the panel will look to citizen journalism as a way to contribute in the creation of hyperlocal news content. 

Participants:
Haramoun Hamieh
Mohammad Dibo
Chaker Noon
Nazeer Rida

Chair:Nassim Abi Ghanem
Discussant: Maria Bou Zeid
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Closing Panel: Transnational Solidarity
This closing panel reflects on new perspectives to challenge myths and stigmas pertaining to digital activism.  It resides in how to build social networks not only in the virtual world but also in the real world across geographic borders.
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Participants:
Diala Haidar
Malihe Razazan
Safa Al-Ahmad
Alaa Shehabi
Lina Attalah​

Chair: Alicia Cagle
Discussant: youtu.be/-PrzecuzLpoAdel Iskandar
NEXT CONFIRMED EVENT:

Workshop II (June 3 & 4, 2016)
"Digital Action in the Middle East and North Africa"
Location: Issam Fares Auditorium
Point Person: Adel Iskandar
Email: ​adel_iskandar@sfu.ca