Description
Book SynopsisInvestigating the root causes of the Syrian uprising of 2011, this book shows how acts of online resistance prepared the ground for better-organised street mobilisation. It interprets the uprising not as the start of Syria's social mobilisation but as a shift from hidden practices of digital dissent to tangible mass protests.
Trade Review"Some observers attribute the origins of the Arab Spring revolutions to social media, especially to YouTube (two million uploads during the Syrian conflict's first two years). Brownlee (Univ. of Exeter) demonstrates, however, that the transition from online "revolution" to a real-life people's revolution in Syria resulted from a lengthy process that involved increased access, new professional standards, and privatization under Bashar al-Assad, together transforming the heavily censored "kingdom of silence." Recommended. All readers." Choice
"Brownlee's book is a welcome contribution to the scholarship on Syria, Arab media, authoritarianism, and the public sphere in the Middle East. The book approaches the subject of Syrian media -- a subject that deserves greater academic attention -- from a fresh, instructive angle." The Middle East Journal
