@mastersthesis {1199,
	title = {Manifestation of Religious Authority on the Internet: Presentation of Twelver Shiite Authority in the Persian Blogosphere},
	volume = {Master of Arts},
	year = {2012},
	month = {23-May-2012},
	school = {University of Waterloo},
	type = {Master Thesis},
	abstract = {Cyberspace has diversified and pluralized people{\textquoteright}s daily experiences of religion in unprecedented ways. By studying several websites and weblogs that have a religious orientation, different layers of religious authority including {\textquotedblleft}religious hierarchy, structures, ideology, and sources{\textquotedblright} (Campbell, 2009) can be identified. Also, using Weber{\textquoteright}s definition of the three types of authority, {\textquotedblleft}rational-legal, traditional, and charismatic{\textquotedblright} (1968), the specific type of authority that is being presented on blogosphere can be recognized. The Internet presents a level of liberty for the discussion of sensitive topics in any kind of religious cyberspace, specifically the Islamic one. In this way, the Internet is expanding the number and range of Muslim voices, which may pose problems for traditional forms of religious authority or may suggest new forms of authority in the Islamic world. The interaction between the Internet and religion is often perceived as contradictory, especially when it is religion at its most conservative practice. While the international and national applications of the Internet have increased vastly, local religious communities, especially fundamentalists, perceived this new technology as a threat to their local cultures and practices. If we look at the Internet as a central phenomenon of contemporary modernity that interacts with practiced fundamentalist religious traditions, we can ask how broad the interactions are between religious fundamentalism and the Internet and whether these relations can be reconciled. More specifically, this thesis presents a study of the junction of the Internet and religious fundamentalism reviewing the presentation of Shiite religious authority on the Persian blogosphere. As a case study, Persian weblogs are studied for content analysis for this thesis. Weblogs{\textquoteright} texts are analyzed to find evidences for Shiite beliefs and shared identity, usages and interpretations of the main Shiite religious texts, references to the role of recognized Shiite leaders, and descriptions of Shiite structural patterns of practices and organizations. This research will demonstrate how the Internet has been culturally constructed, modified, and adapted to the Iranian community{\textquoteright}s needs and how the Shiite fundamentalist community of Iran has been affected by it. Based on one of the most structured research in this area, the study by Baezilai-Nahon and Barzilai (2005), in this article I identify four principal dimensions of religious fundamentalism as they interact with the Internet: hierarchy, patriarchy, discipline, and seclusion.},
	keywords = {Authority, Biosphere, Digital Religion, Iran, media and religion, new media engagement, New media praticipation, Persian, Religious Internet Communities, Shiite Muslim, sociability unbound},
	url = { http://hdl.handle.net/10012/6774},
	author = {Valibeigi, Narges}
}
@book {1279,
	title = {Islamic Activism: A Social Movement Theory Approach },
	series = {Indiana Series in Middle East Studies},
	publisher = {Indiana University Press},
	organization = {Indiana University Press},
	abstract = {This volume represents the first comprehensive attempt to incorporate the study of Islamic activism into social movement theory. It argues that the dynamics, processes, and organization of Islamic activism can be understood as important elements of contention that transcend the specificity of "Islam" as a system of meaning and identity and a basis for collective action. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, the contributors show how social movement theory can be utilized to address a wide range of questions about the mobilization of contention in support of Muslim causes. The book covers myriad examples of Islamic activism (Sunni and Shi{\textquoteleft}a) in eight countries (Arab and non-Arab), including case studies of violence and contention, networks and alliances, and culture and framing.},
	keywords = {activism, Egypt, Iran, Islam, Islamic, Muslims, Shi{\textquoteleft}a, social movement, Sunni, Yeman},
	url = {http://books.google.com/books/about/Islamic_Activism.html?id=UoONJqsjYjcC},
	author = {Quintan Wiktorowicz}
}
@article {1225,
	title = {Connecting the Actual with the Virtual: The Internet and Social Movement Theory in the Muslim World{\textemdash}The Cases of Iran and Egypt},
	journal = {Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs},
	volume = {30},
	year = {2010},
	chapter = {555},
	abstract = {The rapid expansion of Internet use in the Muslim world has called into question
what role{\textemdash}if any{\textemdash}this medium can play in political action in these countries.
This paper seeks to analyze the extent to which the Internet offers space for an
expansion of social movement theory in the Muslim world. It relies on a number
of case studies from two Muslim countries, the One Million Signatures Campaign
and {\textquotedblleft}Weblogistan{\textquotedblright} in Iran, and the Kefaya Movement and Muslim Brotherhood
blogging in Egypt. When placing Internet use in the context of political scientist and
historian Charles Tilly{\textquoteright}s {\textquotedblleft}repertoire{\textquotedblright} of social movement characteristics (worthiness, unity, numbers, and commitment) and political scientist Robert Putnam{\textquoteright}s theory that the Internet can isolate individual users, it appears that the key to
the successful collaboration of the web and social movements is an adaptive
dynamic, through which groups function in both the cyber-world and the real
world. This paper presents a potential vision for the future of the Internet and
Islamic activism based on the assumption that an online element will help generate
some of the elements of Tilly{\textquoteright}s social movement repertoire, particularly if the Internet
is used to inspire sympathetic individuals to real world political action.},
	keywords = {Blogging, Egypt, Internet use, Iran, Islam, Kefaya Movement, Muslim Brotherhood, Muslim minorities, New Media, Weblogistan},
	url = {http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13602004.2010.533453},
	author = {Lernerת Melissa Y}
}
