Virtual Lives and Digital Spaces

Abstract

Abstract The digital turn has reconfigured sociocultural dynamics in the Middle East. Particularly germane to the examination here is how individuals and collectives are introducing dynamics of empowerment at the grassroots level. This chapter focuses on three articulations of these cultural engagements to explore how digitality is pushing boundaries and reformulating practices defined by dominant cultural norms, political culture, and economic systems. In particular, it examines how women renegotiate gender roles while navigating cultural expectations of conformity, how believers reinterpret religion beyond state and state-sanctioned religious discourses, and how publics rearticulate citizenry.