Contemporary political unrest flaring across North Africa has made Leah A. Lievrouw¿s recently published book, Alternative and Activist New Media, essential reading for an attempt to conceptually frame the dynamic role communications technology plays in activating popular dissent. Seismic shifts currently rupturing this region¿s geopolitical landscape are, essentially, examples of Lievrouw¿s discussion of `mediated mobilization¿ in action.
The origin of new media is enmeshed in telephony, thereby, explaining its dispersed, networked, and participatory nature. In contrast to print culture, where production and consumption is strictly hierarchical in form, new media facilitates production by consumers and is thereby intrinsically participatory in nature. This is the crux of Lievrouw¿s exposition of new media activism rooted within its unique history.