In the early 2000s, mainstream international news outlets celebrated the growth of Weblogistan—the online and real-life transnational network of Iranian bloggers—and depicted it as a liberatory site that gave voice to Iranians. As Sima Shakhsari argues in Politics of Rightful Killing, the common assumptions of Weblogistan as a site of civil society consensus and resistance to state oppression belie its deep internal conflicts. While Weblogistan was an effective venue for some Iranians to “practice democracy,” it served as a valuable site for the United States to surveil bloggers and express anti-Iranian sentiment and policies. At the same time, bloggers used the network to self-police and enforce gender and sexuality norms based on Western liberal values in ways that unwittingly undermined Weblogistan's claims of democratic participation. In this way, Weblogistan became a site of cybergovernmentality, where biopolitical security regimes disciplined and regulated populations. Analyzing online and off-line ethnography, Shakhsari provides an account of digital citizenship that raises questions about the internet's relationship to political engagement, militarism, and democracy.
- Cover
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Prologue
- Introduction
- Chapter 1. Weblogistan and the Iranian Diaspora: Nation and Its Re-territorializations in Cyberspace
- Chapter 2. Civil Society (jaame’e-ye madani), Soccer, and Gendered Politicsin Weblogistan: The 2005 Presidential Election
- Chapter 3. Whores, Homos, and Feminists: Weblogistan’s Anti-modern Others
- Chapter 4. Weblogistan and Its Homosexual Problem
- Chapter 5. The War Machine, Neoliberal Homo OEconomicus, and the Experts
- Coda. Revolutionary Ends: Weblogistan’s Afterlife
- Appendix
- Notes
- References
- Index
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- Y
- Z
Text
Audio
Adobe DRM
Login to your account