Derayeh, Minoo2016-09-202016-09-202015-12-092016-09-20http://hdl.handle.net/10315/32176In 2009 Iran witnessed the Green Movement, a popular uprising that challenged the status quo of the socio-political structures of the Islamic Republic. In this research, I attempt to develop an understanding of the conditions that contributed to the demise of the movement. This study takes a Critical Theory approach, and the theoretical foundations of this work are the Theory of Structuration of Giddens and the Theory of Communicative Action of Habermas. The data is drawn from YouTube videos and analyzed through Critical Discourse Analysis. This research identifies the key stakeholders of the movement and investigates weather their aspirations regarding the uprising were aligned or stood in contrast. My investigation uncovers evidence of systematic communication distortion in the public discourse of the leaders of the movement which greatly impacted demobilization and led to its failure. The results of my study also disprove the viability of the Reform philosophy as a pragmatic political path to democracy.enAuthor owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.Middle Eastern studiesElectronic Thesis or Dissertation2016-09-20Critical discourse analysisCritical theoryJorgen HabermasTheory of communicative actionAnthony GiddensTheory of StructurationSocial StructuresSocial ActionCommunicative RationalityPublic SphereMass MediaIdeal SpeechCritical ReflectionStrategic ActionSystematically Distorted CommunicationDramaturgical ActionIranian Green MovementIranian StudiesIranian PoliticsMir Hossein MousaviMehdi KaroubiZahra RahnavardIranian Reform MovementIranian IntellectualsIranian HistoryArab SpringSocial Media in Mass MovementsDemocratic uprisingMiddle Eastern Democratic movementsTruthSincerityLegitimacyComprehensibilityMutual understandingCommunication distortionMedia studiesPower relations in languageEmancipation from forces of dominationMass media in mobilizationMass mobilizationReflextive monitoring of actionStructurationDuality of structureInterpretive schemesStructures of legitimationStructures of dominationStructures of significationDialectic of controlRules and resourcesLifeworldSteering mediaShared background knowledgeIdeological regimesIslamic ideologyTheocratic regimesIranian Supreme leaderThe Guardian Council of IranAyatollah KhameneyiAbdolkarim SoroushMojtahed ShabestariYousefi EshkevariMohsen KadivarMahmoud Ahmadi NejadHegemonic regimeslinguistic manifestation of ideologyFrankfurt schoolIranian Public SphereReligious Intellectuals of IranReligion in the Public SphereVirtual Public Sphere in IranDust and DirtGreen Political Movement of IranGreen WaveTwitter RevolutionSocial Media StudiesYouTube dataMedia studiesCommunication and politicsHistory of social mediaMiddle eastern politicsReligious democracyAyatollah KhomeiniIranian RevolutionIranian Constitutional RevolutionWhite RevolutionPahlavi DynastyWomen's rightsDiscrimination against womenIranian Civil societyWomen's rights in IranOne million signature campaign in IranChange for equality campaign in IranHuman rightsHuman rights in IranIranian womenIranian feminismWomen's struggle in IranPolitical discoursePublic discoursePublic communicationPolitical communicationDiscourse analysisHermeneuticsLeaders of the green movementMohammad KhatamiIranian Judicial SystemKhatami's Twin BillsDemise of green movementFailure of green movement