Encounter Egypt (EE): While reading some of your works, one term came up many
times that grasped our attention.Could you please explain the phenomenon
of "mediated civic identity construction"?
The term "mediated civic
identity construction" is describing the formation of identity in our
post-modern world. Nowadays, there are no fixed or prescribed structures or
institutions anymore, that shape our identities, but it is up to us to form our
own identities. The concept that I am using here stems from the field of
psychology, the theory of a “narrative identity”, put more easily: I tell my
story, therefore I am. Now to make the link to the field of media, and
especially modern media, these tools give us many possibilities to express
ourselves and therefore shape our identity, construct our identity. It is a
performative act that we can witness on facebook, blogs etc.
Connected to the notion of “achieved
citizenship”, a model of citizenship, which does not focus so much on rights
and responsibilities but rather on the construction of a civic identity (only
when I feel and recognize myself as a citizen of a country, can I act as a
citizen and do I feel the power to act as a citizen), we achieve the concept of
“mediated civic identity construction”. I think that this concept is very
important when we talk about the role of media and when we try to define the
role of modern media in the Arab spring.
EE: Could you share with us your
first insights on your own research that you conducted in Egypt about the media
use of Egyptian activists and youth in general?
The activists are very strongly
interconnected. The hardly watch TV at all (which is remarkable for n Egyptian
because in Egypt TV still plays the role of the most far reaching medium). They
use almost exclusively online media and move in “like-minded” circles on the
web. They feel so empowered by their use of social media that they have the
feeling of almost themselves being the media (We are the media!).
EE: Sometimes, it seems to us that
social media almost gets a little bit too much hype or credit for what it's
worth. Could you explain a little bit what according to you social media is
able to do and where its limits lie?
On the one hand of course in Egypt
the provision with internet access is not given everywhere, so one hast to keep
in mind the Digital Divide in the Egyptian society. On the other hand however,
the rate of people gaining internet access in Egypt is growing rapidly and
online media has become very important especially in the framework of the
political discourse that takes place.
The online sphere has played a great
role before the onset of the demonstrations as a counter sphere towards the
official public sphere, where the different ideas and opinions of the
opposition were communicated and exchanged. These kinds of counter spheres (for
example the blogosphere) are also important so that certain groups can communicate
amongst their members about their identity, their values and norms and so on
before their ideas are being transmitted towards the public.
Furthermore, social media like
facebook are helping diminishing the significance of class difference between
the different activists, suddenly, people are getting in touch with each other
who before have been living in two completely different worlds (for example
Zamalek and Manshiet Nasr).
The possibility of citizen
journalism also empowers the citizens and adds another space to Egypt’s public
sphere where critic can be exercised.
And last but not least, over
facebook it is very easy through such means as for example pictures, to create
a certain notion of solidarity and in that way to mobilize the masses.
EE: With the arrival of satellite TV
there was a lot of talk about a change of the Arab public sphere. What do you
think about that and as a matter of fact now with the Arab revolutions (if we
can name them that way in lack of a better word of description) taking place,
how can the Arab public sphere transform into something even more
important/greater?
Arab satellite TV (foremost Al
Jazeera) has thoroughly shaken the national public sphere in the Arab world,
because the Arab public sphere before consisted primarily of a sphere of taboos
and consensus that was enforced by the regime.
Aj has with its live transmitted
political and quite liberal talk shows created a sphere of legitimate
controversy. This translated into the Arab public sphere from before trying to
adjust a little bit towards the standards of AJ. AJ and Al-Arabiya have also
changed the standards of good journalism and reporting in the Middle East.
EE: Talking about Egypt, is there
something that makes Egypt stand out when
talking about the public sphere? Has
the media also undergone a revolution in Egypt or was the taboo of talking
about Mubarak simply replaced by the taboo to talk about the SCAF?
The media landscape in Egypt is
going through quite a change right now. Revolutions are most of the time
connected to the change of the system of political communication. The media run
by the government have of course lost a huge amount of credibility and new
forms of online media which have massively used the form of citizen journalism
over the last year, are trying to fill that gap.
Whereas the center of news reporting
in the Middle East moved to the Gulf, Egypt’s film industry is still very
important. Egypt is an important political actor in the region and is also home
to the seat of the Arab League. Thus Egypt produces most of the news coming from
this region and the network of foreign correspondents is very dense in Egypt.
However Egyptian news are of course
also oriented towards the Egyptian nation, which has been made clear during the
protests. A sign of this was for example the rising use of Egyptian dialect in
political communication processes.
EE: Then, we saw that you once gave
a seminar about media and democracy. Could you explain and elucidate a little
bit further where you make the link between the two? And how this could be
important for Egypt?
Media and democracy are linked through
the concept of “the public”. A public sphere is created through the existence
of (mass)media, through media it is institutionalized and kept alive. Media
works as the connecting link between the state and the society, it serves to
criticize political decision making processes, legitimizes or delegitimizes
actions of politicians, gives attention to problems that exist within the
society and also provides ideas and blue prints for possible solutions to
different problems (peaceful way of resolving conflict in a society). Media can
offer orientation for the citizens (throughout an election) etc. All this is
important for every political system when it finds itself in a transformation like
the one we are witnessing in Egypt. The reason why the media is so important in
Egypt right now is the fact that media can create this public space that is
needed for discussions.
EE: Thank you so much Mrs. Schröder for the interview.
