Reframing Community Boundaries: The Erosive Power of New Media Spaces in Authoritarian Societies

• In Event: Political Communication in Authoritarian and Non-Democratic Contexts

Abstract

This study examines the role of digital media within the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Israel, a conservative closed community, whose leadership is unable or unwilling to control the effects digital media on the rank-and-file. Over the last few years, digital media played an increasingly important role in destabilizing discourses and boundaries regarding taboo issues among Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox communities. One such taboo, which has a long history in the Ultra-Orthodox community, concerns the prohibition of discussions about LGBT and Queer issues. In July 2015, however, a lethal attack of one member of the Ultra-Orthodox community on the 2015 Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade forced the community to address its hateful attitudes towards LGBT and Queer communities. While traditional community media attempted to ignore the debate, two major Ultra-Orthodox news websites fell outside the control exercised by the community leadership, and enabled subversive discussions within the Ultra-Orthodox community. Through a process of negotiating the meaning of the attack, these discussions resulted in a reframing of the boundaries of the community, breaking a path for further contestation and debate. Using grounded theory analysis, this article contributes to a better understanding of the role of digital media in undermining established power structures within closed communities, such as the Ultra-Orthodox community in Israel.

Authors

• Yossi David, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz

• Christian Baden, Hebrew U of Jerusalem