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Article
Social media and connective action: The case of the Saudi women’s movement for the right to drive
New Media and Society
  • Ali Khalil, Zayed University
  • Leysan Khakimova Storie, Lunds Universitet
ORCID Identifiers

0000-0001-5572-440X

Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2020
Abstract

© The Author(s) 2020. This article explored the use of social media and mobile communication by women in Saudi Arabia who campaigned for the right to drive from 1990. Due to the globally unique ban on women driving in the Kingdom, females always needed a male driver to transport them. The Saudi government announced in September 2017 that women would be allowed to drive from June 2018. Using the theory of connective action, the article explored the role of social media in the movement for the right to drive, and looked at how activists used digital media platforms to get their messages across to the Saudi publics and the international community. Findings showed that both connective action and collective action offer tactics that can complement each other in an online movement. In addition, results offer in-depth insights about the role of identity in online movements. Threats to and limitations of online movements are also discussed.

Publisher
SAGE Publications Ltd
Keywords
  • Activism,
  • connective action,
  • messaging apps,
  • Saudi Arabia,
  • social media,
  • Twitter,
  • women,
  • YouTube
Scopus ID
85088306611
Indexed in Scopus
Yes
Open Access
Yes
Open Access Type
Bronze: This publication is openly available on the publisher’s website but without an open license
https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820943849
Citation Information
Ali Khalil and Leysan Khakimova Storie. "Social media and connective action: The case of the Saudi women’s movement for the right to drive" New Media and Society (2020) p. 146000000000000 ISSN: <a href="https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/issn/1461-4448" target="_blank">1461-4448</a>
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/ali-khalil/3/