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Mousavi and other reformers want to harness the growing disquiet in the country to oust one faction of the ruling class from power. They want Ahmadinejad and the hardliners removed, but also limit the scope of popular anger.
The danger is that this movement could quickly run out of their control.
Amr Gharbeia's Library tagged → View Popular
30 Sep 09
World Affairs Council of Houston » Blog Archive » The Power of Social Media in the Muslim World
Mona Tahawy lectures
03 Sep 09
…My heart’s in Accra » When coverage outpaces interest – can statistics show us when the press is trying to lead readers to a story?
US Public interest in Iran elections created by the media
02 Aug 09
زیستن برای بازگفتن - ترجمه انگلیسی مقاله من "بچه های اعماق" واقعی/The real “youth of the lower depths”
Translator’s note: Fuad is a young activist/intellectual and blogger. In his recent blog entry, he objects to an older Iranian leftist intellectual who calls Ahmadinejad’s supporters the “youth of the lower depths.” Fuad describes his own view of the class and social composition of the protests that have taken place in Tehran after the fraudulent June 12, 2009 election. Excerpts follow. -- Frieda Afary
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Our dear intellectuals who still act like “leftists,” have a problem. They have turned leftism into a religion. A religion that has certain rites. These rites begin with insulting the U.S. and the West. They include mythologizing the worker. These rites equate a modern lifestyle to being too westernized and Americanized and sissy. They classify anyone in this category as part of the “velvet revolution.” They ignore the fact that the youth who are screaming in the streets and demand an honorable modern life, are mostly from the lower-middle classes. The problem is not that the working class and the poor are supporters of Ahmadinejad and do not protest. The problem lies in the definition and typical outlook propounded by the so-called leftist intellectuals. These gentlemen still define a worker as someone who is “ugly, has calloused hands, is dishevelled, foul-mouthed, lumpen, backward, uncultured, unfamiliar with the internet and satellite T.V., sexist, listens to the music of Ahangaran [reference to Sadeq Ahangaran’s lyrics about war and mourning], rides a motorcycle, smells like alcohol, onions and rose water”... Therefore they have the illusion that truncheon bearing, motorcycle riding “plainclothesmen” are the “youth of the lower depths.”...
18 Jul 09
Talking social media and politics with Ethan Zuckerman | Net Effect
Ethan vs Evgeny. Heheh. Fun. My experience with Evgeny is that he thinks common people making their own opinion is usually not the best scenario (to put it mildly). A bit on Egypt towards the end.
29 Jun 09
Hamid Dabashi on Iran Protests: "This is Not Another Revolution. This is a Civil Rights Movement"
In Iran, supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi have called for another protest in Tehran today in defiance of the government ban. At least nineteen demonstrators have been killed in the ten days since the election of June 12th. The government continues to detain journalists and activists and has set up a special court for demonstrators. We speak with Columbia University Professor Hamid Dabashi. He writes, “I see the moment we are witnessing as a civil rights movement rather than a push to topple the regime.” [includes rush transcript]
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This, in my judgment, is a post-ideological generation. My generation was divided into third world socialists, anti-colonial nationalists and militant Islamists. These are the three dominant ideologies with which we grew up. But if you look at the composition of Iranian society today, 70 percent of it is under the age of thirty—namely, born after the Islamic Revolution. They no longer are divided along those ideological lines.
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And if you read their newspapers, if you watch their movies, if you listen to the lyrics of their underground music, to their contemporary arts, etc., which we have been doing over the past thirty years, this, to me, is a civil rights movement. They are operating within the Constitution of the Islamic Republic. They don’t want to topple the regime. If you look—come outside, from the right of the right, in the US Senate to the left, is waiting for yet another revolution to happen. I don’t think this is another revolution. This is a civil rights movement. They’re demanding their civil rights that are being denied, even within the Constitution of the Islamic Republic. From their chants that they are doing in the streets to their newspapers, to their magazines, to their websites, to their Facebook, to their Twitters, everywhere that you look, this is a demand for civil liberties and not—
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17 Jun 09
The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب: The Guardians Council
I read that the Guardians Council insisted that it would only permit a partial recount. That unelected lousy body has proven that it is as undemocratic as the unelected lousy anti-democratic body called the US Supreme Court.
Sursock: Iran—a split in the ruling class
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This faction has coalesced around the incumbent president Mahmud Ahmadinijad. They see his populist appeal as an important bulwark against the deep discontent that is sweeping the country. -
A second section fears that the widespread corruption at the heart of the system is undermining popular support for the republic. They want the economy opened up and strip from power those they see as lining their pockets.
This faction, that includes many senior figures in the religious establishment, has put its hopes in Mir-Hossein Mousavi. - 2 more annotations...
Pajamas Media » The Seven-Point Manifesto of the Iranian Resistance
Their demands include no less than the resignation of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This widely circulated document has been translated by PJM's Ardeshir Arian.
The Angry Arab News Service: Iranian developments
When he [Moussavi] was prime minister back in the 1980s, he presided over a regime far more oppressive than Ahmadinajad's.
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Add Sticky NoteI am in no way sympathetic to Moussavi. He is a man who suddenly discovered the virtues of democracy. When he was prime minister back in the 1980s, he presided over a regime far more oppressive than Ahmadinajad's. And why has no Western media really commented on his rhetoric during his own campaign: the man kept saying that he wants a "return" to the teachings of Khomeini. I in no way support a man who wants a "return" to the teachings of Khomeini.
- Yes, good point. We are now arguing who is worse at the moment. I believe the elections were rigged, if that means anything.
In all cases, the people are in the streets, a stone is thrown in the pond, and the state is fighting itself. I am a happy man. - on 2009-06-16
- Yes, good point. We are now arguing who is worse at the moment. I believe the elections were rigged, if that means anything.
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