The culture and politics of Internet use among young people in Kuwait

While Kuwait has not joined the Arab Spring wave, there is considerable political and social turmoil in the tiny emirate. The turmoil is, for the most part, contained within the framework of Kuwait’s indigenous democratic institutions but the lines that used to clearly delineate acceptable public norms of speech and action are becoming increasingly blurred. One factor contributing to the changes is the influence new media technologies have on Kuwaiti society, especially on youth. The paper focuses on the meanings and democratic potentials of the internet for youth in the context of the Gulf Arab country of Kuwait. Through an ethnographic approach and in-depth interviews, it explores how new media reconfigure complex social, cultural, and political relationships, potentially enabling different forms of public engagement in the process.