Routledge Wired Citizenship: Youth Learning and Activism in the Middle East (Critical Youth Studies)

Wired Citizenship examines the evolving patterns of youth learning and activism in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In today’s digital age, in which formal schooling often competes with the peer-driven outlets provided by social media, youth all over the globe have forged new models of civic engagement, rewriting the script of what it means to live in a democratic society. As a result, state-society relationships have shifted―never more clearly than in the MENA region, where recent uprisings were spurred by the mobilization of tech-savvy and politicized youth. Combining original research with a thorough exploration of theories of democracy, communications, and critical pedagogy, this edited collection describes how youth are performing citizenship, innovating systems of learning, and re-imagining the practices of activism in the information age. Recent case studies illustrate the context-specific effects of these revolutionary new forms of learning and social engagement in the MENA region.  Review "At a time when much of what is written about youth online activity in the Middle East is patently hyperbolic or woefully simplistic, Wired Citizenship offers a refreshing corrective to much of the mythology surrounding youth engagement in a time of revolution. Herrera has compiled a truly unlikely volume that actively problematizes and courageously deconstructs the most prescient propositions on young people's digital practices. Topically and thematically, the book is expansive yet consummately nuanced, covering a vast geographic terrain and unsettling a broad range of canons―from literacy and education to mass communication and international relations."―Adel Iskandar, Georgetown University, USA “Wired Citizenship: Youth Learning and Activism in the Middle East is an excellent new collection on virtual learning for critical citizenship in the digital age. With its focus on wired and revolutionary activity it also investigates the troubled geopolitics of North Africa and the Middle East. It is a timely and valuable comment on the ‘Facebook Revolution’ and essential reading for understanding the Arab youth activism and the power of the Internet.”―Michael A. Peters, University of Waikato, New Zealand "In addition to its significant contribution to the fields of youth culture and the sociology of youth, Wired Citizenship calls for a rethinking of the way we perceive the concepts of citizenship and de- mocracy. I hope this call will also be an inspiration for the researchers of youth studies to think about youth political participation beyond the limited patterns that seem given and unchangeable owing to the old and conventional ways of doing politics." ―KULT Online Journal About the Author Linda Herrera is Associate Professor of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA.