Bridging Power and People: Strategic Communication, Public Sphere and Activism in Kuwait’s Monday Diwaniyyas

This study explores the strategic communication practices employed by Kuwaiti activists in transforming the traditional private gathering space of the Diwaniyya (ديوانية) into a public sphere through the Monday Diwaniyyas movement, a grassroots initiative aimed at restoring democracy in Kuwait. Drawing on Habermas’s public sphere and the Cultural-Economic Model (CEM) frameworks, this study examines how activists constructed their collective identity as a “Constitutional Movement” and strategically employed diverse communication channels to advance their message. The analysis is based on data collected through personal interviews, media content, academic literature, books, and historical documents. The findings reveal the activists’ dynamic process of meaning-making and underscore the effectiveness of their communication strategies including public petitions, media engagement, and organized gatherings in shaping public opinion and influencing government policy. These efforts were further supported by their practice of public sphere freedoms within the traditional Kuwaiti Diwaniyya setting. This research underscores the applicability of Habermas’s public sphere and CEM in analyzing activism as a form of strategic communication within a culturally complex context, contributing to a broader understanding of strategic communication in Arab-Islamic cultures through the Diwaniyya, which was transformed into a site of public sphere practice for the movement.