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23 June 2025
New publication: Studies on the digital future in the Middle East and North African Region
Current dissertations from the Sub-Project B04 "Digital Publics and Social Transformation in the Maghreb" published by Springer
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New publication: Studies on the digital future in the Middle East and North African Region

Current dissertations from the Sub-Project B04 “Digital Publics and Social Transformation in the Maghreb” published by Springer

by Konstantin Aal and Sarah Rüller (University of Siegen)

This spring, two dissertations from the Sub-Project B04 “Digital Publics and Social Transformation in the Maghreb” were published in our book series Media of Cooperation. Both works are dealing with aspects and questions of the digital future in the Middle East and North Africa.

 

About Influence of Social Media in a Changing Landscape of Crisis

What influence do social media and information and communication technologies have on various conflicts around the world? Konstantin Aal addresses this question in his dissertation Influence of Social Media in a Changing Landscape of Crisis:Insights into the Digital Dynamics of Conflict and Activism in the Middle Eastern and North African Region, published in 2025. 

The book examines the use and impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and social media in conflicts such as the Arab Spring in Tunisia, the war in Syria, Palestinian activism and the recent protests in Iran. Based on these four studies and in close cooperation with people on the ground, the research assesses the impact of social media in different contexts, considering the historical, socio-economic and socio-technical dynamics of the region and critically reflects on the methods used.

Editorial text: 

Social media and information and communication technologies (ICTs) have played a pivotal role in various conflicts around the world, including the Arab Spring in Tunisia, the war in Syria, Palestinian activism, and the recent protests in Iran. This book examines the use and impact of ICT and social media in these conflicts, focusing on countries in the MENA region. The research takes an on-the-ground approach, working closely with local people to understand their everyday use and appropriation of social media and ICT. The author presents four studies covering different aspects of social media use in conflict: the evolution of the media landscape in post-uprising Tunisia; Palestinian activists using social media to oppose the construction of the wall; the role of social media among Syrian Free Army fighters, activists and refugees; and young Iranians’ strategies for circumventing internet restrictions. These studies reveal the ways in which social media and conflict intersect. The research assesses the impact of social media in these settings, considering the historical, socio-economic and socio-technical dynamics of the regions. Finally, the dissertation critically reflects on the methods used in this fieldwork, emphasizing the role of the researcher and personal biases.

 

About Moving Beyond the WEIRD

What challenges does Western digital research face in non-Western contexts? Sarah Müller examines this question in her dissertation Moving Beyond the WEIRD: Lessons from an Amazigh Community in Shaping Pluralistic Digital Futures, published in 2025. 

Editorial text: 

In this open-access book, Sarah Rüller offers a comprehensive exploration of the complexities and nuances of conducting Western digital research in non-Western contexts, focusing on a case study in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco. The research underscores the importance of addressing the challenges inherent in navigating this intercultural landscape, particularly as Western researchers immersed in ethnographic work. The studies highlight the multifaceted issues surrounding postcolonial frameworks, extractivism, technocapitalism, exploitation, and the evolving paradigms of development and sustainability, and underscores the urgent need for a more pluralistic, site-specific co-design approach. This approach is central to promoting inclusive and just digital futures, mitigating the impact of WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) biases, and unraveling the complex interplay of local and rural contexts torn between authenticity and exploitation by information and communication technologies (ICTs). This research delves deeper into a critical analysis of the establishment of a MediaSpace and the different community perspectives on technology access, revealing tensions and contradictions that shape the discourse on development and self-determination.

 

About the authors

Konstantin Aal studied Business Informatics at the University of Siegen and has been working as a research assistant at the Chair of Business Informatics and New Media at the University of Siegen since the end of 2012 and part of the Project B04 of the CRC 1187 since 2016. 

Sarah Rüller studied Media Science (B.A.) and Human Computer Interaction (M.Sc.) at the University of Siegen. From 2020 until 2025, Sarah Rüller worked as a research associate at the Chair of Information Systems and New Media and the Project B04 of the CRC 1187. 

About the book series Media of Cooperation

Digital network media are designed as cooperative tools, platforms and infrastructures which transform existing publics and give rise to new ones. Digital media can no longer be understood as individual media, but demand a practice-theoretical perspective on media and their history. All media are cooperatively accomplished devices of cooperation. Media practices and techniques evolve from the mutual making of shared resources and joint processes. That’s why the study of digital media disturbs our scientific division of labour and remains a challenge for the intersections between media theory and social theory.

29 April 2025
New publication: digital:gender – de:mapping affect by Julia Bee
„digital:gender - de:mapping affect.
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New publication: digital:gender – de:mapping affect by Julia Bee

„digital:gender – de:mapping affect. a speculative cartography”

edited by Julia Bee (Ruhr-University Bochum), Irina Gradinari (Fernuniversität Hagen) and Katrin Köppert (Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig)

How do digital objects influence our critical thinking when they affect our emotions? Julia Bee explores this question together with colleagues in the publication digital:gender – de:mapping affect. a speculative cartography, published in 2025. 

 

-> See the book

 

About the book

The publication looks at the intersections that now exist between gender studies and the objects of digital media culture—memes, apps, posts. Speculative experiments are carried out to test out entry points to the contemporary constellations of digital media culture and gender theory approaches using individual objects. Feeling and affect play a key role here: having our emotions appealed to by artistic and media objects changes our critical thinking about them. The “cartography” of contemporary digital media culture thus constitutes a situated method.

 

About the Author

Julia Bee is a professor of Gender Media Studies at Ruhr-University Bochum, with a special focus on diversity. In her research, she focuses on intersectional approaches and gender media theory. She leads the projects B09 “Bicycle Media. Cooperative Media of Mobility” and Ö “Public Relations: Cooperative Research and Design” at the Collaborative Research Centre.

Irina Gradinari is Junior Professor of Gender Studies at FernUniversität in Hagen. Katrin Köppert is Junior Professor of Art History/Popular Cultures at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig.

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