Emirati expats in social media: A new arena for involvement and political expression?

Baycar H.

IDENTITIES-GLOBAL STUDIES IN CULTURE AND POWER, cilt.31, sa.2, ss.238-256, 2024 (AHCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 31 Sayı: 2
  • Basım Tarihi: 2024
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/1070289x.2023.2228606
  • Dergi Adı: IDENTITIES-GLOBAL STUDIES IN CULTURE AND POWER
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Periodicals Index Online, Anthropological Literature, CAB Abstracts, Educational research abstracts (ERA), Geobase, Index Islamicus, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, PAIS International, Political Science Complete, Public Affairs Index, Social services abstracts, Sociological abstracts, SportDiscus, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.238-256
  • Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır

Özet

Citizens' online participation has gained momentum from voting to activism. Citizens of the United Arab Emirates actively utilize social media platforms and online sphere to express themselves, despite the prevalence of state authoritarianism. This study, however, does not deal with citizens' participation in political affairs via online mediums but, rather, focuses upon the migrants - or expats - who constitute the majority of the UAE population. Despite the impossibility of acquiring citizenship, migrants have found ways to conduct some kinds of acts and habitus of citizenship. This study is based on Emirati expats' participation in social and political life via different mediums, mainly YouTube. With citizens' collaboration, the expats are able to join debates about Emirati life and challenge the Gulf migrants' rhetoric.