”Nu är det mullornas tur att darra” : kampanjen #WhiteWednesdays som medialiserad subaltern counterpublic

Sammanfattning: The aim of this thesis is to study Iranian women's struggle against the mandatory veil, based on Nancy Fraser's (1990) theory on subaltern counterpublics and Mia Lövheim's (2012) use of Stig Hjarvard’s theory on mediatization of religion. Specifically, how the Iranian-exile Masih Alinejad's Twitter can be seen as an alternative sphere in which she creates a mediatized subaltern counterpublic for marginalized women. The research questions are as follows:(1) How is Iran and the compulsory hijab portrayed in the selected material? (2) Can this portrayal be seen as a mediatized subaltern counterpublic? The material consists of 100 tweets from the campaign #WhiteWednesdays. By using a qualitative method with an abductive approach, I found four themes in the material. Research question (1) showed that Iran is portrayed as a stratified society where men are superior to women and that the public sphere constitutes problems regarding women's rights. The mandatory veil is presented as the most visible symbol of gender apartheid and religious dictatorship. Research question (2)showed that, based on subaltern counterpublics and mediatization, societies (especially with religious authority) exclude women from speaking in authorized discourse, which contributes to a search for alternative spheres. The study’s chosen theories proved to be a good fit for capturing, describing and explaining how Alinejad creates a mediatized subaltern counterpublic - via new digital media - for marginalized women whom have been excluded from the authorized and official capacity of the country. The results further showed how Alinejad participated in the mediated public sphere as an independent agent who engaged in religious issues from a position of authority. She continues to use the #WhiteWednesdays campaign as a space to perform activism against the regime's veil policy.