The Internet and Politics in Morocco : The political Use of the Internet by Islam-oriented political movements

Abstract

For several years, Islam-oriented movements (organisations, groups and individual activists) have been utilising the Internet to facilitate their political communication. The political use of the Internet is more than an extension of existing forms of political communication. It offers an enormous variety of opportunities of communication to Islam-oriented movements to which they have not previously had access. As such, they have used Internet-based political communication channels in many ways. This doctoral thesis explores the importance of the political use of the Internet over the last decade in Morocco. The central argument of the work is that the political use of the Internet has been used to facilitate what Castells has called a resistance of identity. Islam-oriented movements believe they are involved in activities, which contribute to a broader re-islamization of the public sphere and as such are concerned with social justice and political debates. This work considers how the political use of the Internet by two main Islam-oriented movements in Morocco has influenced the information flow, organisation and mobilisation of participants, identity formation and changing repertoires of action. It also explores the different ways in which the Internet is utilised, what tactics are used, their effectiveness, and opponents’ responses, in order to examine how such practices can inform our understandings of social and political change in Morocco. Various methods of data collection have been adopted. Combining qualitative and quantitative approaches, this study employs open-ended questions interviews, survey research and content analysis of websites. The examples in this work are drawn from a range of empirical research undertaken by the author into Moroccan politics since the early 2000’s. The resonance of these uses is then more closely examined through the identification of four themes (politics, society, economics and religion). The potential benefits of Internet-based communication appear to be particularly suited to the activities of, and are being extensively utilised by, Islam-oriented movements. The term Internet-based communication incorporates a number of different technologies – email, websites and chatrooms. An examination of Islam-oriented movements’ use of the Internet provides insight into how such technology can be used in ways that differ from traditional media channels and possibly indicate future trends. This dynamic poses challenges to the political regime.