Iraq's democratisation: Communicating women's rights and social change in cyberspace

Abstract

In 2003 George W. Bush launched a military and political campaign to invade and democratise Iraq. After three trips to the polls during the three years of the United States’ occupation, the Iraqi people have democratically elected representatives to oversee the physical and political rebuilding of their country. Numerous problems associated with the democratisation process have fueled debate between politicians and academics. These views have been represented in mainstream media and in official discourse. Additional commentaries on democratisation in Iraq have been located in Cyberspace. These commentaries are known as "blogspots" and offer a rare insight into the everyday life of Iraqi people as they face not only political change but also the social chaos of occupation under a foreign invader. This paper will outline the research potential of data from "cyberspace" and the "blogosphere" as contributing to an understanding of the social ramifications of democratisation via invasion and war for the women of Iraq. I will present a preliminary analysis of the blog "Baghdad Burning" and propose that this blog provides data which has the potential to significantly contribute to our understanding of how the cultural and behavioral values and norms of Iraq are affected by the United States military and political presence. Specifically, I will discuss the implications of Iraq’s new democratic constitution for women’s rights.