Cybersectarianism
Cybersectarianism is the phenomenon of
As an organizational type
The term, as coined by political scientist Patricia M. Thornton at the University of Oxford, describes "a unique hybrid form of politico-religious mobilization" adopted by a handful of syncretic qigong (气功) groups that emerged in the People's Republic of China (PRC) during the late 1980s and early 1990s, and were subjected to extreme repression following the crackdown against banned religious and spiritual organizations in 1999.
Cybersectarianism as an organizational form involves: "highly dispersed small groups of practitioners that may remain largely anonymous within the larger social context and operate in relative secrecy, while still linked remotely to a larger network of believers who share a set of practices and texts, and often a common devotion to a particular leader. Overseas supporters provide funding and support; domestic practitioners distribute tracts, participate in acts of resistance, and share information on the internal situation with outsiders. Collectively, members and practitioners of such sects construct viable virtual communities of faith, exchanging personal testimonies and engaging in collective study via email, on-line chat rooms and web-based message boards."[1]
In China
Transnational Chinese cybersects include the group commonly known in the West as
Some cybersect members of groups, including
Among Muslims
More recently,
Other groups
When taken to the airwaves and posted on the internet, divisive sectarian language among Catholic and Protestant residents of post-agreement Northern Ireland has also been described as an outbreak of cybersectarianism by Ballymena-born BBC reporter, Declan Lawn, and others.[9][10][11] In a similar vein, the term is also commonly used to describe the internecine internet-based partisan splintering among various factions of the Socialist Party of America,[12][13] and among members of the Communist League. There is some evidence to suggest that the heavy reliance of such groups on the internet, a medium that not only facilitates but also encourages user interactivity and peer-to-peer information sharing, may present serious challenges to the maintenance of internal coherence and policing of orthodoxy by a central core of leaders.
Cultural theorist
References
- ^ a b Patricia M. Thornton, "The New Cybersects: Resistance and Repression in the Reform era." In Elizabeth Perry and Mark Selden, eds., Chinese Society: Change, Conflict and Resistance (second edition) (London and New York: Routledge, 2003), pp. 149-50.
- ^ Patricia M. Thornton, "Manufacturing Dissent in Transnational China: Boomerang, Backfire or Spectacle?" In Kevin J. O’Brien, ed., Popular Contention in China (Harvard University Press, 2008).
- ^ Emily C. Dunn, "Netizens of heaven: contesting orthodoxies on the Chinese Protestant web," Asian Studies Review 31, 4 (2007), pp. 447–58
- ^ Karaflogka, Anastasia. "Religious Discourse and Cyberspace." Religion 32 (2002), pp. 279-291.
Karaflogka cites the cyber-diocese of Partenia and Falun Gongas two examples of cyberreligions.
- ^ Costanza-Chock, Sasha (2003). "Mapping the Repertoire of Electronic Contention". In Opel, Andrew; Pompper, Donnalyn (eds.). Representing Resistance: Media, Civil Disobedience and the Global Justice Movement. Greenwood. pp. 173–191.
- ^ "Cyber-sectarianism," The Layalina Review on Public Diplomacy and Arab Media, Vol. IV, No. 22 (10–23 October 2008), pp. 5-6, available at [1][permanent dead link]
- ^ Alaedin Maghaireh, "Shariah Law and Cyber-Sectarian Conflict: How can Islamic Criminal Law respond to cyber crime?," p. 338, available at [2][permanent dead link]
- ^ Dru C. Gladney, Dislocating China: Reflections on Muslims, Minorities and Other Subaltern Subjects (C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2004), see Chapter 11, "Cyber-separatism," pp. 229-259.
- ^ Des Blackadder, "Your Views: Panorama in Ballymena," Archived 9 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine Ballymena Times, 8 April 2008.
- ^ Dermod Moore, "Bootboy: Gougers, langers and victimology," Archived 19 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine Dublin theatre reviews… and other passions (10 March 2006).
- ^ On the use of the term to describe the migration of political and religious sectarian divisions to cyberspace, see also Bernd Biege, "Bernd's Ireland Travel Blog: Fáilte Second Ireland," Archived 20 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine 5 November 2007
- Social Democrats USA, standing in the legacy of the Socialist Party of America(17 June 2008).
- ^ aka Bootboy, "I predict a riot", Hot Press Hot Press (14 March 2006).
- ^ Paul Virilio,The Information Bomb (Verso, 2005), p. 41.
- ^ Rita M. Hauck, "Stratospheric Transparency: Perspectives on Internet Privacy, Forum on Public Policy (Summer 2009) [3] Archived 20 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine