Abstract

The article addresses the use of the internet by Islamic social movement organizations (SMOs), focusing on the case of Justice and Charity (JC), the biggest opposition political group in Morocco. It examines the extent to which the SMO exploits the potential of the medium in collective action, and the implications of this use for the SMO’s capacity to advance its cause and resist state repression. Drawing on social movement and radical democracy theories, the study highlights the implications of the internet for collective identity‐building in the political project of the Islamic SMO. The article argues that while JC draws extensively on the internet to enhance collective identity‐construction and build an antagonistic public sphere, it fails to benefit from the potential of the medium to promote gender equality and genuine participative communication, and to build an agonistic political sphere.

Keywords: social movement theory, radical democracy, Islamic movement, internet, activism

How to Cite:

Moussa, M., (2017) “The Use of the Internet by Islamic Social Movements in Collective Action: The Case of Justice and Charity”, Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture 8(2), 74-108. doi: https://doi.org/10.16997/wpcc.186