Annie Labrie 31 October 2014 Democracy’s Fourth Wave? and Egypt’s Women’s Rights: A Review Introduction Until 2011, it had been fifteen years since the last “wave” of democratization in the Arab World. The most recent uprisings appeared one after another across the Middle East, attempting to reform oppressive regimes. Not unlike past uprisings, activists throughout these countries joined together in an effort to overthrow their dictators and achieve a greater overall quality of life. The events of 2011, however, were unique because of one major asset: digital media. Philip N. Howard and Muzammil M. Hussain’s Democracy’s Fourth Wave?: Digital Media and the Arab Spring is a 2013 historical work that explores the ways in which digital media impacted the 2011 Arab Spring. The authors find that the causal recipe includes several economic, political and cultural factors, but that digital media is “consistently one of the most important sufficient and necessary conditions for explaining both the fragility of regimes and the success of social movements” (Howard and Hussain (2013). Howard and Hussain argue that in order to fully understand the events of 2011, one must also understand how technology - and the use of it in civil society - has changed and developed over the years. As Howard and Hussain note, it is important to know that democratization in the Arab world is not a new process; it existed long before social media. Nonetheless, social media and technology played a tremendous role in the initiation and outcomes of the Spring (Howard and Hussain 2013). Each country involved in the (attempted) protests and government reformation experienced quite different techniques and end results - that is not to say that they are all over but each country discussed in Democracy’s Fourth Wave? shares a common theme: the Labrie 1

prevalence of digital media in social and political action. Whether or not the efforts of digital civil society and activism will hold lasting effects in the Arab world remains uncertain, but Howard and Hussain aim to prove that what is clear is the importance of this use of technology thus far; by forming extensive networks and organizing political systems, digital media were able to ultimately spark social action. Summary Democracy’s Fourth Wave? begins with a brief introduction to the history of the Arab Spring as a whole. Howard and Hussain present “four of the world’s most recalcitrant dictators:” Zine el Abadine Ben Ali of Tunisia, Mummar Gaddafi of Libya, Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen, and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, each of whom fell under the protests after decades of power (Howard and Hussain 2013). The uprisings began in Tunisia, inspired Egypt, and appeared in various countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa shortly after. Howard and Hussain utilize the participation of digital media in the Arab Spring to produce a “cross-case, event-driven analysis” of the role of digital media in popular movements for democracy that have posed significant challenges to authoritarian rule among these countries. They claim that three attributes make all twenty-three countries a useful comparison set: one, each has been slow to democratize, two, each has experienced rapid technology diffusion, and three, in each country, social elites use technologies to censor political culture in ways that are not often tolerated in the rest of the developing world (Howard and Hussain 2013). Howard and Hussain emphasize the intriguing fact that these protests were not led by traditional political actors; they did not begin because of the efforts of “unions, political parties or radical fundamentalists” (Howard and Hussain 2013). Instead, the protests of 2011 and the

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years after were driven by members of society who were not historically successful in politics: networks of young entrepreneurs, government workers, women’s groups, and the urban middle class (Howard and Hussain 2013). What ultimately caused the Arab Spring can be partially attributed to the long-standing discontent among the people of the Arab World; poverty, unemployment, corrupt regimes. In addition, the youth bulge in this part of the world and the high number of unemployed, educated people served as a motivator for social action. Howard and Hussain take these hypotheses a step further, however, stating that “real-world politics is not just what happens offline:” digital media was not only a tool during the protests, but also a key motivator in initiating the uprisings altogether (Howard and Hussain 2013). Why was digital media such a powerful asset to the Arab Spring? Howard and Hussain identify three specific reasons: one, many groups were pushed online because other forms of political action were banned. As much of the internet’s infrastructure was independent of state control, online civil society had a (somewhat) safe space where social and political opinion was able to flourish (Howard and Hussain 2013). Two, internet had an expanding user base and a changing demography of the internet-using population. Three, internet allowed anonymity (Howard and Hussain 2013). Ultimately, Howard and Hussain find that the countries affected by the Arab Spring were related in various ways - similar regimes under harsh dictatorships, an interwoven culture and people, a common theme of discontent - but most importantly, they all involved a crucial contribution from digital media. After introducing an overview of their argument, the authors focus much of the rest of the book on two vital players in the Arab Spring: Tunisia and Egypt. Beginning with Tunisia, the authors unpack the country that started it all. The news of Mohamed Bouazizi’s self immolation

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spread across international borders via digital media; an event which some claim to be the ignition behind the Tunisian protests. Communication networks created a political uprising that was “traditionally leaderless;” instead of usual political actors, Tunisia was led by prominent faces in the digital world (Howard and Hussain 2013). Eventually internet was banned, but mobile phones were quick to take over and continue this crucial digital networking. In the case of Egypt, Howard and Hussain note that almost everyone has access to a mobile phone and the country has the largest internet-using population, second to Iran. Egypt also has a long-standing active political sphere on the internet, a place where efforts for democratization began long before people actually took to the streets. The story of “We Are All Khaled Said” was addressed, pointing to the ability of digital media to share this important and emotional news both within the country and internationally. In the words of Howard and Hussain, “the webpage to memorialize Said became a portal for collective commiseration...and [more than that], it became a logistical tool, and, at least temporarily, a very strong source of community (Howard and Hussain 2013). It was a community that reached english-speaking citizens overseas, people who became active in the uprisings in their own way. Like Tunisia, Egyptians also experienced a black out in which technological communication was cut off. Contrary to Mubarak’s intentions, however, this loss of technology actually convinced more Egyptians to invade the streets and protests in search of loved ones or in frustration and to join the cause. In both cases, as well as across the twenty-one other countries present in Howard and Hussain’s study, internet helped turn individual and community-based plights into a structured movement with a collective consciousness; it provided both a “means and a medium” for

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political resistance across countries (Howard and Hussain 2013). Howard and Hussain present five phases to the story of digital media in the Arab Spring: the preparation phase, when activists find each other through social media and create solidarity, the ignition phase which involves some incident that circulates online and inflames the public, street protests that are coordinated digitally, a phase of international buy-in when governments overseas, and finally a climax phase in which the “the state either cracks down...rulers concede and meet public demands, or groups reach a protracted stalemate (Howard and Hussain 2013). Analysis/Critique While Howard and Hussain’s Democracy’s Fourth Wave?: Digital Media and the Arab Spring presents an overall powerful argument for the importance of digital media in the Arab Spring, like any historical literature, it has its faults. Mechanically, the authors are rather redundant, producing the feeling that the book could have been condensed drastically. Although each chapter has a particular focus, they all conclude with the same thesis that Howard and Hussain convey repeatedly throughout the book. Next, the authors largely emphasize just two countries out of the twenty-three they are apparently referring to. Although the rest of the Arab World is briefly discussed, the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia win, by far, the bulk of the report. Of course, Egypt and Tunisia serve as the most affective evidence that digital media has played an overwhelmingly positive role in the Arab Spring; it was in these two major countries that digital media caused little harm in comparison to other parts of the Arab world. Further, the value placed on digital media discredits the amount of violence and trauma experienced in Egypt and Tunisia: “for the amount of political change that has occurred, there has been limited loss of life” (Howard and Hussain

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2013). Although Egypt and Tunisia proved to be less bloody than other countries, access to digital media did not explicitly save these people from harm, and the countries more effected by violence (such as Libya and Bahrain) did not suffer because their citizens utilized digital media to a lesser degree. In this way, the authors essentially shape their argument around these two countries, using the experiences in Egypt and Tunisia to speak for the whole Arab Spring in order to present the most optimistic view on digital media in the Arab Spring possible. Indeed, this is a clever technique but under a critical lens, the lack of evidence in other countries makes for a less compelling thesis overall. Finally, Howard and Hussain are too optimistic about about the power of digital media in civil society altogether. By boldly stating, “digital media may be among the most proximate of causes because the motivations for protest against authoritarian rule alone had been insufficient for years,” the authors argue that democracy will not exist without the help of digital media. However the book falters to its age; published in 2013, Howard and Hussain had a much less developed knowledge of how the uprisings would play out, and just how much digital media have positively contributed. Readers today can see the flaws in the “five-phase process” of how digital media affected the Arab Spring; while the authors conclude that both Egypt and Tunisia have reached a “climax phase” where “rulers concede and meet public demands,” of course it is clear now that the Arab world (including Egypt and Tunisia) has simply not yet reached such a positive “climax” - even with the help of digital media (Howard and Hussain 2013). Democracy’s Fourth Wave? simply displays too favorable a history on digital media in the Arab uprisings, further disregarding the importance of other aspects of the Arab Spring, such as traditional means of networking and individual people (Howard and Hussain 2013). While

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digital media undoubtedly played a crucial role in the uprisings beginning in 2011, they were definitely not the only catalyst for change, and they certainly have not yet concretely built democracy across the Arab world. Case Study In 2013, a study performed by the Thomson Reuters Foundation ranked Egypt the number one worst country to be a woman (Marx 2013). Throughout Democracy’s Fourth Wave? Howard and Hussain periodically address areas of inequality aside from the obvious great divide of power, wealth and access between citizens and government in authoritarian regimes. They raise the idea that the Arab uprisings beginning in 2011 created an outlet for other social and political groups to come forward and progress - including women. Indeed, the Egyptian uprisings might not have been beneficial only for democratization, but for women as well. Amidst the events of the Arab Spring, Egyptian women’s rights movements had a new opportunity to reach broader audiences and expand. Egyptian women were unusually politically active during this time; participating in protests in Tahrir Square, speaking to reporters, and even acting as reporters by using landlines to communicate with people around the world while internet and mobile phones were down (Saleh 2011). But women became especially active in a world beyond the physical protests: cyberspace. As Howard and Hussain argue, “women and minority movements have been drawn into political discourse online in ways not often available in offline spaces” (Howard and Hussain 2013). During the Egyptian uprisings, women “aggressively invaded the new public space created by digital media,” running blogs or Facebook pages, organizing networks through social media, and spreading a call for change, globally, through digital media (Howard and Hussain

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2013). Online, women were able to enter a safe(r) space that transgresses traditional norms to discuss public policy and social issues - on the same platform as men. They could also form online women-only groups and become leaders of online discussions or even movements. Finally, digital media gave women access to information about gender politics in other countries, learning about their status in comparison to other parts of the world, and creating a larger sense of tolerance and empathy toward more liberal viewpoints (Howard and Hussain 2013). Even though Egyptian women were active online, when they carried this activism to the streets, many women were met with “disdain, abuse or worse...women protesters were tortured and subjected to forced virginity tests” (Saleh 2011). Despite digital media’s ability to voice the opinions of Egyptian women during the uprisings, their access to power (no matter how small) was rather short lived. As Awrad Saleh states, “March 8 marked International Women's Day, where post-revolution optimism left Egyptian women hoping to reach one million female activists to assemble in Tahrir Square to demonstrate for women's rights. Regrettably, the Egyptian women were unsuccessful and men were telling them, ‘Go back home, it's not your time now. When we finish democracy we will get to you.’" Today, women still experience the daily wrath of the patriarchy; lack of access to power, constant harassment from men, secondclass citizenship (Newsom and Lengel 2012). Although women experienced a small taste of equality during the Arab Spring, for now it seems to have been lost in cyberspace. Conclusion Philip N. Howard and Muzammil M. Hussain’s Democracy’s Fourth Wave?: Digital Media and the Arab Spring provides a substantial argument for the salience of digital media during the 2011 (and on) uprisings in the Arab world. Howard and Hussain cover a brief history

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of the events of the Arab Spring, but focus the extent of the book on a “media history,” conveying the role digital media played in the uprisings. The authors emphasize not only the importance of technology in networking and organizing protests, but especially the way technology created a build-up of tension online first, and then ultimately acted as the lead motivator and cause of the Arab Spring. Despite the authors’ extensive research and evidence, the central thesis of the book is flawed in its cyber-optimism and faith in digital media in democratization. Prioritizing Egypt and Tunisia - the two countries that were most positively effected by digital media - Howard and Hussain practically ignore the impact technology had elsewhere in the Arab world. The book gives digital media too much credit for starting a revolution; indeed, a couple years after publication, it becomes clear that the authors were too confident in the ability of technological tools to begin uprisings - and to end them on a positive note. Howard and Hussain were correct in that digital media deeply enhanced women’s access to political and social activism during the Arab Spring. During this period, Egyptian women were given a voice online like they never would have had offline. Unfortunately, this glimpse of gender equality did not carry through to the real world, especially once the uprisings had ended. After all, in the Arab world inequality for women is seen as “regrettable but inevitable” (Saleh 2011). So for now Egyptian women will continue to wait for real equality, still acting as cyber activists in their own right.

Works Cited

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Howard, Philip N. and Muzammil M. Hussain. Democracy’s Fourth Wave?: Digital Media and

the Arab Spring. Oxford University Press, New York: 2013.

Marx, Lucy. Women’s Rights in Egypt: The Anti-Sexual Harassment Movement. Web. 11 Dec.

2013.

Newsom, Victoria A. and Lengel, Lara. Arab Women, Social Media, and the Arab Spring:

Applying the framework of digital reflexivity to analyze gender and online activism.



Journal of International Women's Studies. 2012.

Saleh, Awrad. "Revolution And Women's Rights: The Case Of Egypt." Washington Report On Middle East Affairs 30.6 (2011): 45. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 31 Oct. 2014.

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