Investigating the Proportion of Social Media and the Level of Secularism in West Asia and North Africa

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Political Science, Department of Political Science, Mohaghegh Ardabili University, Ardabil, Iran

2 Ph.D Candidate, Political Science, Isfahan University, Isfahan, Iran.

10.22070/iws.2024.18395.2335

Abstract

Secularism is one of the concepts of modernity that emerged from the thought, culture, and developments of recent centuries in the West. In today's modern societies, secularism plays a crucial role in separating religious institutions from political and executive institutions, ensuring the basic rights and freedoms of citizens regardless of their religious orientations. This concept is now spreading to other parts of the world. One region that has shown signs of being influenced by secularism in recent decades is the Arab world. Some researchers attribute this shift to the significant role of the Internet and social media. This research aims to explore the impact of social media on Arab citizens' inclination towards secularism, utilizing data from wave VII (2021-2022) of the Arab Barometer through secondary analysis. The study, based on data from 12 countries in West Asia and North Africa, including Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Sudan, and Tunisia, involved a sample size of 26,154 individuals. The findings suggest that social media plays a significant role in increasing Arab citizens' support for secularism. Furthermore, specific tests reveal that Instagram has a more pronounced effect on promoting secular tendencies compared to other social media platforms.
 
 

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

  • آهنگری، الهه، طحان، محمد، حسین نژاد، حسین، بناءخطیبی، مریم (1397)، «بررسی رابطه استفاده از شبکه‌های اجتماعی تلفن همراه و میزان پای بندی به اعتقادات دینی دانش آموزان 12 تا 18 سال شهر کاشمر»،مطالعات فرهنگی اجتماعی خراسان، 12(3): 36-56.
  • صالحی، سید جواد، فرج زاده، ایوب فرج زاده و فرح‌بخش، عباس (1391)، «بررسی نقش اینترنت در جنبش اجتماعی مصر»، جامعه‌شناسی سیاسی جهان اسلام، 1(3): 1-16.
  • رهبرقاضی، محمودرضا و نوعی باغبان، سید مرتضی (1401)، مشارکت انتخاباتی در ایران: تأثیرات مستقیم و غیرمستقیم رسانه‌های اجتماعی از طریق ارزش‌های رهایی و سکولاریسم،پژوهشنامه علوم سیاسی، 17(3): 87-116.
  • رضایی محمد، محمد و موسوی، سید روح‌الله (1400)، «تحلیل نسبت دین و دین‌داری با شبکه‌های اجتماعی سایبری»، فصلنامه قبسات، 26(100): 45-72.
  • میرفردی، اصغر، مختاری، مریم و ولی نژاد، عبدالله (1396)، «میزان دین‌داری و ارتباط آن با استفاده از شبکه‏های اجتماعی اینترنتی (موردمطالعه: دانشجویان دانشگاه یاسوج)»،جامعه‌شناسی کاربردی، 28(2): 1-16.
  • Akyol, (2019). A New Secularism Is Appearing in Islam. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/23/opinion/islam-religion.html
  • Armfield, G. ., & Holbert, R. L. (2003). The relationship between religiosity and Internet use. Journal of Media and Religion, 2(3), 129-144.
  • Baudrillard, J. (1994). Simulacra and simulation. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan press.
  • Beaudoin, T. (1998). Virtual faith: The irreverent spiritual quest of Generation X. San Francisco, CA: Joessey-Bass.
  • Berger, P. (1990). The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. New York: Doubleday.
  • Castells, M. (2002). The Rise of the Network Society. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Catto, R. (2014). What can we say about today's British religious young person? Findings from the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Programme. Religion, 44(1), 1-27.
  • Chomsk, (2023) The False Promise of ChatGPT. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/08/opinion/noam-chomsky-chatgpt-ai.html
  • Civila, S., Romero-Rodríguez, L. M., & Civila, A. (2020). The demonization of Islam through social media: A case study of StopIslam in Instagram. Publications, 8(4), 52.
  • Dittmar, J., & Seabold, S. (2015). Media, markets and institutional change: evidence from the Protestant Reformation. VOX CEPR's Policy Portal, https://voxeu.org/article/media-markets-and-institutional-change-evidence-protestantreformation
  • Herbert, D. E. (2011). Theorizing religion and media in contemporary societies: An account of religious ‘publicization’. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 14(6), 626-648.
  • Hjarvard, S. (2008). The mediatization of religion: A theory of the media as agents of religious change. Northern Lights: Film & Media Studies Yearbook, 6(1), 9-26.
  • Hjarvard, S.( 2012). “Three Forms of Mediatized Religion: Changing the Public Face of Religion.” In S. Hjarvard and M. Lövheim , eds, Mediatization of Religion: Nordic Perspectives. Gothenburg: Nordicom, 21–44.
  • Hutchings, T. (2012). “Network Theology: Christian Understandings of New Media”. Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture, 1(1), 1-14.
  • Khan, A. (2015). “Ethical issues in social networking. Term Paper. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.1.4289.6080
  • Knott, K. , Poole, E. , and Taira, T. (2013). Media Portrayals of Religion and the Secular Sacred: Representation and Change. Farnham: Ashgate.
  • Lundby, K. (2012). Theoretical frameworks for approaching religion and new media. Digital religion: Understanding religious practice in new media worlds, Routledge Press.
  • McClure, P. K. (2016). Faith and Facebook in a pluralistic age: The effects of social networking sites on the religious beliefs of emerging adults. Sociological Perspectives, 59(4), 818-834.
  • Smith, C., & Cimino, R. (2012). Atheisms unbound: The role of the new media in the formation of a secularist identity. Secularism and Nonreligion, 1(1), 17-31.
  • Smith, K. (2018). 121 Amazing Social Media Statistics and Facts. https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/amazing-social-media-statistics-and-facts
  • Taira, T. (2015). “Media and the Nonreligious.”

In K. Granholm , M. Moberg and S. Sjö , eds, Religion, Media, and Social Change. London: Routledge, 110–125.

  • Usmani, S. A. A., & Akmal, Z. (2018). Social Media and Its Impact on Secularism in Society. The Islamic Culture" As-Saqafat-ul Islamia Research Journal-Sheikh Zayed Islamic Centre, University of Karachi, (39). 7-16.
  • Watson, J., & Hill, A. (2015). Dictionary of media and communication studies. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
  • چامسکی، نوام (1390). باید بدانید در اینترنت دنبال چه هستید!، خبرگزاری مهر، کد خبر: 1518999، 8 بهمن 1390. com/xgTYm

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 21 August 2022
  • Revise Date: 20 February 2024
  • Accept Date: 28 December 2022

Share

How to cite

Statistics