A growing number of American Muslim youth aspire to
produce and share media. For many of them, this aspiration
connects to ongoing politicized struggles around how Muslims and
Islam are viewed in Post 9/11 America. As the youth tap new media resources to
reshape the communication environment and
create new images of what it means to be Muslim in America, they simultaneously confront the chilling effects of
various forms of
surveillance, which encourage self-censorship. The
silencing power of these concerns about surveillance becomes particularly potent in the context of networks that support expression of diverse narratives,
free discussion of issues and the formation of loosely defined communities that bypass more controlled organizational structures.
See Sangita Shresthova's By Any Media Necessary chapter,
Storytelling and Surveillance, to learn more about this group of young people and their engagement in participatory politics.
