Prison media mobilization

Smuggled technologies and media practices in Lebanese carceral spaces

Bibliographic Data

ID12918338
AuthorsChafic Tony Najem (0000-0002-6498-1050, Northwestern University in Qatar, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume18
Issue3
Pages236-246
Publication date2025-05-15
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCommunication Culture and Critique (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1753-9137 • E-ISSN: 1753-9129
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/ccc/tcaf008
OpenAlexW4410390514
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited16

This article explores the use of smuggled digital technologies by prisoners in Lebanese carceral spaces. Since 2012, prisoners have smuggled cellphones to document and share their experiences and protests, despite efforts by authorities to restrict this access. The study adopts Martín-Barbero’s mediaciones and Mattoni’s activist media practices, to propose “prison media mobilization”—the strategic and illicit reconfiguration of digital technologies by prisoners to subvert constraints and amplify dissent. The analysis focuses on four approaches: representation, production, circulation, and material practices. By examining recordings and contextual information from significant events in Lebanese prisons, the research shows how contraband digital technologies catalyze mobilizations. These technologies document, incite, propagate, and aid prisoners perform acts of defiance against prison conditions. The study highlights the complexity and innovation in prisoners' media practices, calling for a comprehensive framework to understand media mobilizations in carceral spaces

Criminology · Media studies · Mobilization · Political science · Prison · Sociology · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Internet Traffic Analysis and Secure E-voting · Public Spaces through Art · Law

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