Skip to main content

Student Activism, Social Media, and Authoritarian Rule in Iran

  • Chapter
The Whole World is Texting

Abstract

Iranian students have been seen as one of the country’s most influential social groups, alongside clerics and workers, and they have consistently challenged state authorities since the establishment of modern universities in 1934 (Parsa 2000). Some even believe that “the modern history of social movements in Iran is unimaginable without the student movement” (Sreberny and Gholam 2007, p. 284).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Abrahamian, Ervand. (1998). “Iran.” In G. T. Kurianm, ed., World Encyclopedia of Parliaments and Legislatures, Volume I (pp. 338-342). Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Afshari, Ali, & H. Graham Underwood. (2007). “The Student Movement’s Struggle.” Journal of Democracy, 18(4), 80-94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amir-Ebrahimi, Masserat. (2008). “Transgression in Narration: The Lives of Iranian Women in Cyberspace.” Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, 4(3), 89-115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amir-Ebrahimi, Masserat. (2009). “Weblogistan: The Emergence of a New Public Sphere in Iran.” In Seteney Shami, ed., Publics, Politics and Participation: Locating the Public Sphere in the Middle East and North Africa (pp. 325-358). New York: Social Science Research Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rahimi, Babak. (2003). “Cyberdissent: The Internet in Revolutionary Iran.” Middle East Review of International Affairs, 7(3), 101-115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bajoghli, Narges. (2014). “Digital Technology as Surveillance: The Green Movement in Iran.” In Linda Herrera, ed., Wired Citizenship: Youth Learning and Activism in the Middle East (pp. 180-194). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bayat, Asef. (1997). “Un-Civil Society: The Politics of the Informal People.Third World Quarterly, 18(1), 53-72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bayat, Asef. (2010). Life as Politics: How Ordinary People Change the Middle East. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bazooband, Sara. (2014). “The Democratic Movement in Iran: A Case Study of the Role of Online Technology.” In Galia Golan & Walid Salem, eds., Non-state Actors in the Middle East: Factors for Peace and Democracy (pp. 102-115). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breindl, Yana. (2010). “Critique of the Democratic Potentialities of the Internet: A Review of Current Theory and Practice.” Triple C, 8(1), 43-59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrieri, Matthew, Ali Karimzadeh Bangi, Saad Omar Khan, & Saffron Suud. (2013). “After the Green Movement: Internet Controls in Iran, 2009-2012.” OpenNet Initiative, February. Available online at: https://opennet.net/sites/opennet.net/files/iranreport.pdf

  • Chandour-Demiri, Nada. (2013). “The Urban Subalterns and the Non-Movements of the Arab Uprisings: An Interview with Asef Bayat.” Jadaliyye, March 26. Available online at: http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/10815/the-urban-subalterns-and-the-non-movements-of-the-Committee

  • Committee on Human Rights Reporters. (2011). “Iranian Student and Blogger Arrested.” Committee of Human Rights Reporters, November 23. Available online at: http://www.chrr.biz/spip.php?article16546

  • Committee on Human Rights Reporters. (2010). Feteneh-e cyberi [“Cyber seduction”]. Markaz-e Motaleat va Pazhuheshha-e Sazeman-e Basij-e Danshjoui, Tehran [The Center of Researches and Studies of the University Basij Students Organization]. Available online at: http://www.fetyan.ir/Doc/89/siberi%20(Fetyan.net).pdf

  • Deibert, Ronald, & Rafal Rohozinski. (2010). “Liberation vs. Control in Cyberspace: The Future of Cyberspace.” Journal of Democracy, 21(4), 43-57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elling, Rasmus Christian. (2009). “Bring in the Dead, Martyr Burials and Election Politics in Iran.Middle East Report Online, March 19. Available online at: http://www.merip.org/mero/mero031909

  • Esfandiari, Golnaz. (2010). “Iran: Basij Members Trained to Conquer Virtual World.” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), August 21. Available online at: http://www.rferl.org/content/Basij_Members_Trained_To_Conquer_Virtual_World/2134023.html

  • Fathi, Nazila. (2006). “Students Cry ‘Death to the Dictator’ as Iranian Leader Speaks.” New York Times, December 12. Available online at: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/12/world/middleeast/12iran.html?_r=0

  • Garrett, R. Kelly. (2006). “Protest in an Information Society: A Review of Literature on Social Movements and New ICTs.” Information, Communication and Society, 9(2), 202-224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gheytanchi, Elham, & Babak Rahimi. (2009). “The Politics of Facebook in Iran.” Open Democracy, June 1. Available online at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/article/email/the-politics-of-facebookin-iran

  • Giacobino, Laurent, Arash Abadpour, Collin Anderson, Fred Petrossian, & Caroline Nellemann. (2014). Whither Blogistan: Evaluating Shifts in Persian Cyberspace. Philadelphia, PA: The Iran Media Program, the Center for Global Communication Studies at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania. Available online at: http://www.iranmediaresearch.org/en/research/download/1607

  • Gladwell, Malcolm. (2010). “Small Change.” The New Yorker, October 4. Available online at: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/04/101004fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=all

  • Global is Asian. (2011). “Mobile Activism in Asia, A Catalyst for Political Change.” Global Is Asian, 9-11. Available online at: http://issuu.com/nuslkyschool/docs/global-is-asian_issue11/8

  • Golkar, Saeid. (2005). “From Black Crow to Barbie: Changing Students’ Norms in Iran.” ISIM Review, 16, Leiden 10-11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Golkar, Saeid. (2010). “The Reign of Hard-line Students in Iranian Universities.” Middle East Quarterly, 17(3), 21-29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Golkar, Saeid. (2011). “Liberation or Suppression Technologies: The Internet, the Green Movement and the Regime in Iran.” Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society, 9(1), 50-70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Golkar, Saeid. (2012). “Cultural Engineering under Authoritarian Regimes: Islamization of Universities in Post-Revolutionary Iran.” Digest of Middle East Studies, 21(1), 1-23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golkar, Saeid. (2013). “University under Siege: The Case of the Professors’ Basij Organization.” The Middle East Journal, 67(3), 363-379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The Guardian. (2013). “Green Movement Activists Live in Fear as Iran's Presidential Election Nears.” The Guardian, May 17. Available online at: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/17/greenmovement-activists-iran-repression

  • Hadi Sohrabi-Haghighat, Mohammad. (2011). “New Media and Social-political Change in Iran.” CyberOrient, 5(1). Available online at: http://www.cyberorient.net/article.do?articleId=6187

  • Hajin, Mona. (2013). “Seeking Personal Autonomy through the Use of Facebook in Iran.” SAGE Open, March 28, 1-13. Available online at: http://sgo.sagepub.com/content/3/1/2158244013483759.fulltext.pdf+html

  • Hajizadeh, Ali. (2001). “Jonbesh-e Danshjoui va Dolat-e Eslahat” [“The Student Movement and the Reformist Government”]. Andish-e Jameh, 22, 36-41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Honari, Ali. (2013). “From Virtual to Tangible Social Movements in Iran.” In Paul Aarts & Francesco Cavatorta, eds., Civil Society in Syria and Iran: Activism in Authoritarian Context (pp. 143-168). Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hosseini, Hossin. (2011). “Dar Soda-e Yek Makteab Posideh Borhan” [Looking for a Rotten Ideology”]. Payegah-e Tahili-e Va Tambieni Borhan [The Analytically Explanatory Website of Boran]. Tehran, July 7. Available online at: http://borhan.ir/NSite/FullStory/Print/?Id=1394

  • Hounshell, Blake. (2011). “The Revolution Will Be Tweeted.” Foreign Policy, June 20. Available online at: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/06/20/the_revolution_will_be_tweeted

  • Human Rights Activists News Agency. (2011). “Mostafa Akhavan Sentenced to One Year in Prison for Facebook Membership.” Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), June 15. Available online at: https://hra-news.org/en/mostafa-akhavan-sentenced-to-one-year-in-prison-for-facebookmembership

  • Internet World Statistics. (2012). “Internet Users in the Middle East and the World.” Internet World Statistics, June 30. Available online at: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats5.htm

  • Iran Media Program. (2013). “Liking Facebook in Tehran: Social Networking in Iran 2013.” Iran Media Program. Philadelphia, PA: Center for Global Communication Studies, Annenberg School for Communication University of Pennsylvania. Available online at: http://www.global.asc.upenn.edu/fileLibrary/PDFs/Facebook.pdf

  • Kelly, John, & Bruce Etling. (2008). Mapping Iran's Online Public; Politics and Culture in the Persian Blogosphere (pp. 5-36). Berkman Center Research Publication No. 2008-01. Cambridge, MA: Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kia, Ali Asghar. (2012). “Tahlil-e Shabakehaye Ejtemai Majazi dar Iran, Facebook Motalh-e Moredi.” [“The Analysis of Virtual Social Networks in Iran, Facebook, A Case Study”]. Available online at: http://goo.gl/ZrLEsW

  • Khalili- Gheidary, Lida. (2012). “Social Media and Iran’s Post-election Crisis.” In Sean S. Costigan & Jake Perry, eds., Cyberspaces and Global Affairs (pp. 215-221). Farnham: Ashgate Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khonsari, Shahriar. (2013). Case Study of the 2009 Iranian Presidential Election and the Uprising in Iran: The Impact of Social Media on Social Change and Political Power. M.A. thesis. Malmo University School of Arts and Communication.

    Google Scholar 

  • Labi, Aisha. (2010) “Student Activism, Though Muted, Endures a Year after Crackdown in Iran.” Chronicle of Higher Education, June 13. Available online at: http://chronicle.com/article/Despite-a-Year-of-Crackdown-in/65934/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

  • Hendelman-Baavur, Liora. (2007). “Promises and Perils of Weblogistan: Online Personal Journals and the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Middle East Review of International Affairs, 11(2), 77-93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lukuslu, Demet. (2013) “Cyberspace in Turkey, A Youthful Space for Expressing Powerful Disconnect and Suffering.” In Linda Herrera, ed., Wired Citizenship: Youth Learning and Activism in the Middle East (pp. 76-88). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahdavi, Mojtaba. (2006).” Rethinking Agency and Structure in the Study of Democratic Transition: Iranian Lessons.” Annual Meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association, Toronto.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahdi, A. Akbar. (1999). “The Student Movement in the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Journal of Iranian Research and Analysis, 15(2). Available online at: http://go.owu.edu/~aamahdi/students.htm

  • Markaz-e Motaleat va Pazhuheshha-e Sazeman-e Basij-e Danshjoui [The Center of Research and Study of the University Basij Students Organization]. (2010). “Feteneh-e cyberi” [“Cyber Seduction”].

    Google Scholar 

  • Markaz-e Motaleat va Pazhuheshha-e Sazeman-e Basij-e Danshjoui [The Center of Research and Study of the University Basij Students Organization], Tehran. Available online at: http://www.fetyan.ir/Doc/89/siberi%20(Fetyan.net).pdf

  • Mashayekhi, Mehrdad. (2001). “The Revival of the Student Movement in Post-Revolutionary Iran.” International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society, 15(2), 283-313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mehr News Agency. (2012). “Amar-e Karbaran-e Irani ozve shabakehay-e Ejtemi” [“The Statistics of Iranian Users in Social Media Networks”]. Mehr News Agency, Tehran, October 10. Available online at: http://www.mehrnews.com/TextVersionDetail/1716707

  • Milani, Abbas. (2010). “The Green Movement.” In Robin B. Wright, ed., The Iran Primer: Power, Politics, and U.S. Policy (pp. 41-44). Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Science & Technology. (2008). Tozih-e Tedad Daneshjoyan bar Hasab-e Doreh-e Tahsily [Distribution of Students Based on Level/Field and Gender]. Ministry of Science and Technology, 2008. Available online at: http://www.irphe.ac.ir/files/site1/pages/Stat_1386_87/EnrolmentTable/10_2.pdf

  • Moghanizadeh, Somayeh. (2013). The Role of Social Media in Iran’s Green Movement. M.A thesis, Department of Applied Information Technology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Available online at: https://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/34206/1/gupea_2077_34206_1.pdf

  • Mohammadi, Majid. (2007). “Iranian University Students’ Politics in the Post-Reform Movement Era: A Discourse Analysis.” Iranian Studies, 40(5), 623-634.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morozov. Eugene. (2012). The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom. New York: Public Affairs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naeli, Mina. (2013). “New Trends of Social Media Use in Iran: Candidates’ Campaigns on Social Networks in the 2013 Presidential Election.” Global Media Journal German Edition, 3(2), 1-7. Available online at: http://www.db-thueringen.de/servlets/DerivateServlet/Derivate-28719/GMJ6_Naeli_final.pdf

  • Parsa, Misagh. (2000). States, Ideologies, and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of Iran, Nicaragua, and the Philippines. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Parvaz, Dorothy. (2014). “Hassan Rouhani and the Hope for More Freedom in Iran.” Committee to Protect Journalists. Available online at: http://cpj.org/2014/02/attacks-on-the-press-iran.php

  • Petrossian Fred, Arash Abadpour, & Mahsa Alimardani. (2014). “The Decline of Iran’s Blogestan.” Washington Post, April 11. Available online at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkeycage/wp/2014/04/11/the-decline-of-irans-blogestan/

  • Rahmandad, Hazhir, Sara Sarkhili, Mohammad Hafezi, Ali Mostashari, Farzan Parsinejhad, Nima Saeidi, & Ali Khademhosseini. (2006). Iranians on Orkut: Trends and Characteristics. A Research Report. Cambridge: The Iranian Studies Group (ISG) at MIT. Available online at: http://isgmit.org/projects-storage/Orkut/updated-orkut_report_Mar07_06.pdf

  • Razavi, Reza. (2009). “The Cultural Revolution in Iran, with Close Regard to the Universities, and Its Impact on the Student Movement.” Middle Eastern Studies, 45(1), 1-17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rivetti, Paola. (2012). “Student Movements in the Islamic Republic: Shaping Iran’s Politics through the Campus.” In Rouzbeh Parsi, ed., Iran: A Revolutionary Republic in Transition (pp. 81-100). Paris: European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) Chaillot Paper no. 128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rivetti, Paola, & Francesco Cavatorta. (2012). “Iranian Student Activism between Authoritarianism and Democratization: Patterns of Conflict and Cooperation between the Office for the Strengthening of Unity and the Regime.” Democratization, 21(2), 289-310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seyed-Emami, Kavous. (2008). “Youth, Politics, and Media Habits in Iran.” In Mehdi Semati, ed., Media, Culture and Society in Iran (pp. 57-68). Oxon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shahzeidi, Mehri, Elhahe Shabani, Younghoon Chang, & Myeony-Cheol Park. (2013). Can Women Benefit from Cyberspace as a Public Space? Paper presented at the CPRsouth8/CPRafrica Conference, Mysore, India, September 5, 2013. Available online at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2331886

  • Shirky, Clay. (2011). “The Political Power of Social Media: Technology, the Public Sphere, and Political Change.” Foreign Affairs, 90(1), 12. Available online at: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67038/clay-shirky/the-political-power-of-social-media

  • Sreberny, Annabelle, & Gholam Khiabany. (2007). “Becoming Intellectual: The Blogestan and Public Political Space in the Islamic Republic.” British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 34(3), 267-286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sreberny, Annabelle, & Gholam Khiabany. (2010). Blogistan the Internet and Politics in Iran. London: I.B. Tauris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Surowiecki, James. (2004). The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies, and Nations. New York: Doubleday.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sustar, Lee. (2003). “New Protests in Iran Sign of Political Crisis.” Socialistworker.org, June 20, 5. Available online at: http://socialistworker.org/2003-2/458/458_05_Iran.shtml

  • Tohidi, Nayereh. (1999). “Student Movement: The Harbinger of a New Era in Iran.” ISIM (International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World Newsletter), 4(1), 1. Available online at: https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/handle/1887/17356

  • Wolff, Christian. (2011). “Social Media in the Revolution – Web 2.0 and the Uprising in the Arab World.” Digital Development Debates, 4 (June). Available online at: http://www.digitaldevelopment-debates.org/issue-04-media.html

  • Yaghmaian, Behzad. (2002). Social Change in Iran: An Eyewitness Ac-count of Dissent, Defiance, and New Movements for Rights. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Sense Publishers

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Golkar, S. (2015). Student Activism, Social Media, and Authoritarian Rule in Iran. In: Epstein, I. (eds) The Whole World is Texting. Pittsburgh Studies in Comparative and International Education. SensePublishers, Rotterdam. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-055-0_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics