New media, globalization and Kuwaiti national identity

Middle East Journal

Volumn 54, Issue 3, 2000, Pages 432-443

  Wheeler, Deborah ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0034196248     PISSN: 00263141     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (37)

1. Benedict Anderson, Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism (London: Verso, 1983).
2. John B. Thompson, Ideology and Modern Culture: Critical Social Theory in the Era of Mass Communication (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990), p. 15, and Alex Inkeles and David H. Smith, Becoming Modern: Individual Change in Six Developing Countries (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974), pp.144-5.
3. John B. Thompson, Ideology and Modern Culture: Critical Social Theory in the Era of Mass Communication (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990), p. 15, and Alex Inkeles and David H. Smith, Becoming Modern: Individual Change in Six Developing Countries (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974), pp.144-5.
4. Lila Abu-Lughod, "Finding a Place for Islam: Egyptian Television Serials and the National Interest," Public Culture, v.5 (1993), p.493.
5. "Kuwait: History, Construction and Cultural Landmarks," in Kuwait from Above, photos by Yann Arthus-Bertrand (Mansouria: Center for Research and Studies on Kuwait, 1998), p.13.
6. "Kuwait: History, Construction and Cultural Landmarks," p. 81.
7. "Kuwait: History, Construction and Cultural Landmarks,"
8. Figures from "World Development Indicators - 5.11 The Information Age," World Bank, 1998. Obtained on-line at www.worldbank.org.
9. "Communications in the State of Kuwait," a special supplement to Communications MEA, (Herts: The Information and Technology Publishing Co, 1993), pp.14-18.
10. Jamal J. al-Menayes, "Television Viewing Patterns in the State of Kuwait after the Iraqi Invasion," Gazette, p.57 (1996), p. 124.
11. Communications MEA, p.12.
12. Claudia Farkas al-Rashoud, Kuwait: Before and After the Storm (Kuwait City: The Kuwait Bookshop, 1992), p.106.
13. John Levins, Days of Fear: The Inside Story of the Iraqi Invasion and Occupation of Kuwait (Dubai: Motivate Publishing, 1997), p.364.
14. Levins, p.365.
15. Personal Communication with Prof. Ahmad al-Baghdadi, Chairman of the Political Science Department, Kuwait University May, 1997.
16. There are Kuwaiti produced products which could have made the charts. Kuwait produces more musical albums than videos, although several Kuwaiti film makers release their materials in video format only. Those produced by Walid al-Awada are an example. Most Kuwaitis with whom I spoke, however, preferred American videos and music, and the charts reflect these preferences.
17. Arab Times, 23-24 January, 1997, p.13.
18. Arab Times, 20-21 February, 1997, p.13.
19. Fayad E. Kazan, "Kuwait," in Mass Media in the Middle East: A Comprehensive Handbook, ed. Yahya R. Kamalipour and Hamid Mowlana (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1994), p.154.
20. Kazan, p.155.
21. "Movies Censored by Ministry, Says Official," Arab Times, 20-21 March, 1997, p.4.
22. Al-Menayes, p. 127.
23. Al-Menayes, p. 129.
24. Al-Menayes, p. 131.
25. "Tackle effects of Media on Islamic, National Values," Arab Times, 10 March, 1997, p. 2.
26. Derived from TV Guide published in Kuwait by The Guide Publishing for the week of February 22-28, 1997 (Ramadan), p. 43.
27. Mohammed El Hadary, "No Plans to Control Satellite," Arab Times, 25 March, 1997, p. 1.
28. El Hadray p. 1.
29. TV Guide, p. 46.
30. Interview with Sabiha al-Jasim, Council of Ministers Building, February, 1997.
31. While information flows freely over the networks, the storage of records of all communication on servers that archive and distribute information means that Internet communications can be surveyed if a government or institution has a suspicion about an individual or organization. The fine line between privacy and surveillance means that the Internet has not yet proven itself as a technology for radical democratization. It may simply be a tool with which to enhance existing power structures and their controls over individuals' lives and thoughts. Given the sheer volume of Internet traffic, however, most users are protected from surveillance, unless they break the law and their Internet activities become evidence against them.
32. Deborah L. Wheeler, "The Internet and Public Culture in Kuwait," Gazette (Forthcoming, 2001).
33. www.ditnet.co.ae/itnews/newsaug99/newsaug5_tables.htm.
34. Interview at the Islamic Presentation Committee headquarters, Safat, Kuwait, May, 1997. The IPC's elaborate web site can be found at www.moc.kw/Users/guidance/ipchp_1.htm.
35. www.ditnet.co.ae/itnews/newsaug99/newsaug5_tables.html.
36. Dr. Moosa M. al-Mazeedi and Dr. Ibrahim A. Ismail, "The Educational and Social Effects of the Internet on Kuwait University Students," unpublished paper presented at Kuwait's Conference on the Information Superhighway, March 1998, 4.
37. al-Mazeedi and Ismail, "Educational and Social Effects of the Internet."