Polarization and opinion analysis in an online argumentation system for collaborative decision support

Argumentation is an important process in a collaborative decision making environment. Argumentation from a large number of stakeholders often produces a large argumentation tree. It is challenging to comprehend such an argumentation tree without intelligent analysis tools. Also, limited decision support is provided for its analysis by the existing argumentation systems. In an argumentation process, stakeholders tend to polarize on their opinions, and form polarization groups. Each group is usually led by a group leader. Polarization groups often overlap and a stakeholder is a member of multiple polarization groups. Identifying polarization groups and quantifying a stakeholder\u27s degree of membership in multiple polarization groups helps the decision maker understand both the social dynamics and the post-decision effects on each group. Frameworks are developed in this dissertation to identify both polarization groups and quantify a stakeholder\u27s degree of membership in multiple polarization groups. These tasks are performed by quantifying opinions of stakeholders using argumentation reduction fuzzy inference system and further clustering opinions based on K-means and Fuzzy c-means algorithms. Assessing the collective opinion of the group on individual arguments is also important. This helps stakeholders understand individual arguments from the collective perspective of the group. A framework is developed to derive the collective assessment score of individual arguments in a tree using the argumentation reduction inference system. Further, these arguments are clustered using argument strength and collective assessment score to identify clusters of arguments with collective support and collective attack. Identifying outlier opinions in an argumentation tree helps in understanding opinions that are further away from the mean group opinion in the opinion space. Outlier opinions may exist from two perspectives in argumentation: individual viewpoint and collective viewpoint of the group. A framework is developed in this dissertation to address this challenge from both perspectives. Evaluation of the methods is also presented and it shows that the proposed methods are effective in identifying polarization groups and outlier opinions. The information produced by these methods help decision makers and stakeholders in making more informed decisions --Abstract, pages iii-iv

Argumentation Stance Polarity and Intensity Prediction and its Application for Argumentation Polarization Modeling and Diverse Social Connection Recommendation

Cyber argumentation platforms implement theoretical argumentation structures that promote higher quality argumentation and allow for informative analysis of the discussions. Dr. Liu’s research group has designed and implemented a unique platform called the Intelligent Cyber Argumentation System (ICAS). ICAS structures its discussions into a weighted cyber argumentation graph, which describes the relationships between the different users, their posts in a discussion, the discussion topic, and the various subtopics in a discussion. This platform is unique as it encodes online discussions into weighted cyber argumentation graphs based on the user’s stances toward one another’s arguments and ideas. The resulting weighted cyber argumentation graphs can then be used by various analytical models to measure aspects of the discussion. In prior work, many aspects of cyber argumentation have been modeled and analyzed using these stance relationships. However, many challenging problems remain in cyber argumentation. In this dissertation, I address three of these problems: 1) modeling and measure argumentation polarization in cyber argumentation discussions, 2) encouraging diverse social networks and preventing echo chambers by injecting ideological diversity into social connection recommendations, and 3) developing a predictive model to predict the stance polarity and intensity relationships between posts in online discussions, allowing discussions from outside of the ICAS platform to be encoded as weighted cyber argumentation graphs and be analyzed by the cyber argumentation models. In this dissertation, I present models to measure polarization in online argumentation discussions, prevent polarizing echo-chambers and diversifying users’ social networks ideologically, and allow online discussions from outside of the ICAS environment to be analyzed using the previous models from this dissertation and the prior work from various researchers on the ICAS system. This work serves to progress the field of cyber argumentation by introducing a new analytical model for measuring argumentation polarization and developing a novel method of encouraging ideological diversity into social connection recommendations. The argumentation polarization model is the first of its kind to look specifically at the polarization among the users contained within a single discussion in cyber argumentation. Likewise, the diversity enhanced social connection recommendation re-ranking method is also the first of its kind to introduce ideological diversity into social connections. The former model will allow stakeholders and moderators to monitor and respond to argumentation polarization detected in online discussions in cyber argumentation. The latter method will help prevent network-level social polarization by encouraging social connections among users who differ in terms of ideological beliefs. This work also serves as an initial step to expanding cyber argumentation research into the broader online deliberation field. The stance polarity and intensity prediction model presented in this dissertation is the first step in allowing discussions from various online platforms to be encoded into weighted cyber argumentation graphs by predicting the stance weights between users’ posts. These resulting predicted weighted cyber augmentation graphs could then be used to apply cyber argumentation models and methods to these online discussions from popular online discussion platforms, such as Twitter and Reddit, opening many new possibilities for cyber argumentation research in the future

The Political Communications of Iranian Green Resistance Movement of 2009: A Critical Discourse Analysis

In 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

인공지능과 대화하기: 일대일 그리고 그룹 상용작용을 위한 대화형 에이전트 시스템 개발

학위논문(박사) -- 서울대학교대학원 : 사회과학대학 언론정보학과, 2022.2. 이준환."인간-컴퓨터 상호작용"과 "사용자 경험"을 넘어, "인간-인공지능 상호작용" 그리고 "알고리즘 경험"의 시대가 도래하고 있다. 기술의 발전은 우리가 의사소통하고 협업하는 방식의 패러다임을 전환했다. 기계 에이전트는 인간 커뮤니케이션에서 적극적이며 주도적인 역할을 수행한다. 하지만 효과적인 AI 기반 커뮤니케이션과 토론 시스템 디자인에 대한 이해와 논의는 부족한 것이 사실이다. 이에 본 연구는 인간-컴퓨터 상호작용의 관점에서 다양한 형태의 커뮤니케이션을 지원할 수 있는 기술적 방법을 탐색하는 것을 목표로 한다. 이를 위해 저자는 일대일 그리고 그룹 상호작용을 지원하는 대화형 에이전트를 제시한다. 구체적으로 본 연구는 1) 일대일 상호작요에서 사용자 관여를 높이는 대화형 에이전트, 2) 일상적인 소셜 그룹 토론을 지원하는 에이전트, 3) 숙의 토론을 가능하게 하는 에이전트를 디자인 및 개발하고 그 효과를 정량적 그리고 정성적으로 검증했다. 시스템을 디자인함에 있어서 인간-컴퓨터 상호작용뿐 아니라, 커뮤니케이션학, 심리학, 그리고 데이터 과학을 접목한 다학제적 접근 방식이 적용되었다. 첫 번째 연구는 일대일 상호작용 상황에서 사용자의 관여 증진을 위한 대화형 에이전트의 효과를 검증했다. 설문조사라는 맥락에서 수행된 이 연구는 웹 설문조사에서 응답자의 불성실로 인해 발생하는 응답 데이터 품질의 문제를 극복하기 위한 새로운 인터랙션 방법으로 텍스트 기반 대화형 에이전트의 가능성을 탐색하는 것을 목표로 했다. 이를 위해 2 (인터페이스: 웹 對 챗봇) X 2 (대화 스타일: 포멀 對 캐쥬얼) 실험을 진행했으며, 만족화 이론에 근거하여 응답 데이터의 품질을 평가했다. 그 결과, 챗봇 설문조사의 참여자가 웹 설문조사의 참여자보다 더 높은 수준의 관여를 보이고, 결과적으로 더 높은 품질의 데이터를 생성하는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 하지만 이런 챗봇의 데이터 품질에 대한 효과는 챗봇이 친구 같고 캐쥬얼한 대화체를 사용할 때만 나타났다. 이 결과는 대화형 인터랙티비티가 인터페이스뿐 아니라 대화 스타일이라는 효과적인 메세지 전략을 동반할 때 발생하는 것을 의미한다. 두 번째 연구는 일상적인 소셜 채팅 그룹에서 집단의 의사결정과정과 토론을 지원하는 대화형 시스템에 대한 것이다. 이를 위해 GroupfeedBot이라는 대화형 에이전트를 제작하였으며, GroupfeedBot은 (1) 토론 시간을 관리하고, (2) 구성원들의 균등한 참여를 촉진하며, (3) 구성원들의 다양한 의견을 요약 및 조직화하는 기능을 갖고 있다. 해당 에이전트를 평가하기 위해 다양한 태스크 (추론, 의사결정, 자유 토론, 문제 해결 과제)와 그룹 규모(소규모, 중규모)에 관하여 사용자 조사를 시행했다. 그 결과 의견의 다양성 측면에서 GroupfeedBot으로 토론한 집단이 기본 에이전트와 토론한 집단보다 더 다양한 의견을 생성했지만 산출된 결과의 품질과 메시지 양에 있어서는 차이가 없는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 균등한 참여에 대한 GroupfeedBot의 효과는 태스크의 특성에 따라 다르게 나타났는데, 특히 자유 토론 과제에서 GroupfeedBot이 참여자들의 균등한 참여를 촉진했다. 세 번째 연구는 숙의 토론을 지원하는 대화형 시스템에 대한 것이다. 세 번째 연구에서 개발된 DebateBot은 GroupfeeedBot과 달리 더 진지한 사회적 맥락에서 적용되었다. DebateBot은 (1) 생각하기-짝짓기-공유하기 (Think-Pair-Share) 전략에 따라 토론을 구조화하고, (2) 과묵한 토론자에게 의견을 요청함으로써 동등한 참여를 촉진하는 두 가지 주요 기능을 수행했다. 사용자 평가 결과 DebateBot은 그룹 상호작용을 개선함으로써 심의 토론을 가능하게 했다. 토론 구조화는 토론의 질에 긍정적인 효과를 발휘하였고, 참여자 촉진은 진정한 합의 도달에 기여하였으며, 그룹 구성원들의 주관적 만족도를 향상했다. 본 연구는 이 세 가지 연구의 결과들을 바탕으로 인간-인공지능 커뮤니케이션에 대한 다양한 시사점들을 도출하였으며, 이를 TAMED (Task-Agent-Message-Information Exchange-Relationship Dynamics) 모델로 정리하였다.The advancements in technology shift the paradigm of how individuals communicate and collaborate. Machines play an active role in human communication. However, we still lack a generalized understanding of how exactly to design effective machine-driven communication and discussion systems. How should machine agents be designed differently when interacting with a single user as opposed to when interacting with multiple users? How can machine agents be designed to drive user engagement during dyadic interaction? What roles can machine agents perform for the sake of group interaction contexts? How should technology be implemented in support of the group decision-making process and to promote group dynamics? What are the design and technical issues which should be considered for the sake of creating human-centered interactive systems? In this thesis, I present new interactive systems in the form of a conversational agent, or a chatbot, that facilitate dyadic and group interactions. Specifically, I focus on: 1) a conversational agent to engage users in dyadic communication, 2) a chatbot called GroupfeedBot that facilitates daily social group discussion, 3) a chatbot called DebateBot that enables deliberative discussion. My approach to research is multidisciplinary and informed by not only in HCI, but also communication, psychology and data science. In my work, I conduct in-depth qualitative inquiry and quantitative data analysis towards understanding issues that users have with current systems, before developing new computational techniques that meet those user needs. Finally, I design, build, and deploy systems that use these techniques to the public in order to achieve real-world impact and to study their use by different usage contexts. The findings of this thesis are as follows. For a dyadic interaction, participants interacting with a chatbot system were more engaged as compared to those with a static web system. However, the conversational agent leads to better user engagement only when the messages apply a friendly, human-like conversational style. These results imply that the chatbot interface itself is not quite sufficient for the purpose of conveying conversational interactivity. Messages should also be carefully designed to convey such. Unlike dyadic interactions, which focus on message characteristics, other elements of the interaction should be considered when designing agents for group communication. In terms of messages, it is important to synthesize and organize information given that countless messages are exchanged simultaneously. In terms of relationship dynamics, rather than developing a rapport with a single user, it is essential to understand and facilitate the dynamics of the group as a whole. In terms of task performance, technology should support the group's decision-making process by efficiently managing the task execution process. Considering the above characteristics of group interactions, I created the chatbot agents that facilitate group communication in two different contexts and verified their effectiveness. GroupfeedBot was designed and developed with the aim of enhancing group discussion in social chat groups. GroupfeedBot possesses the feature of (1) managing time, (2) encouraging members to participate evenly, and (3) organizing the members’ diverse opinions. The group which discussed with GroupfeedBot tended to produce more diverse opinions compared to the group discussed with the basic chatbot. Some effects of GroupfeedBot varied by the task's characteristics. GroupfeedBot encouraged the members to contribute evenly to the discussions, especially for the open-debating task. On the other hand, DebateBot was designed and developed to facilitate deliberative discussion. In contrast to GroupfeedBot, DebateBot was applied to more serious and less casual social contexts. Two main features were implemented in DebateBot: (1) structure discussion and (2) request opinions from reticent discussants.This work found that a chatbot agent which structures discussions and promotes even participation can improve discussions, resulting in higher quality deliberative discussion. Overall, adding structure to the discussion positively influenced the discussion quality, and the facilitation helped groups reach a genuine consensus and improved the subjective satisfaction of the group members. The findings of this thesis reflect the importance of understanding human factors in designing AI-infused systems. By understanding the characteristics of individual humans and collective groups, we are able to place humans at the heart of the system and utilize AI technology in a human-friendly way.1. Introduction 1.1 Background 1.2 Rise of Machine Agency 1.3 Theoretical Framework 1.4 Research Goal 1.5 Research Approach 1.6 Summary of Contributions 1.7 Thesis Overview 2. Related Work 2.1 A Brief History of Conversational Agents 2.2 TAMED Framework 3. Designing Conversational Agents for Dyadic Interaction 3.1 Background 3.2 Related Work 3.3 Method 3.4 Results 3.5 Discussion 3.6 Conclusion 4. Designing Conversational Agents for Social Group Discussion 4.1 Background 4.2 Related Work 4.3 Needfinding Survey for Facilitator Chatbot Agent 4.4 GroupfeedBot: A Chatbot Agent For Facilitating Discussion in Group Chats 4.5 Qualitative Study with Small-Sized Group 4.6 User Study With Medium-Sized Group 4.7 Discussion 4.8 Conclusion 5. Designing Conversational Agents for Deliberative Group Discussion 5.1 Background 5.2 Related Work 5.3 DebateBot 5.4 Method 5.5 Results 5.6 Discussion and Design Implications 5.7 Conclusion 6. Discussion 6.1 Designing Conversational Agents as a Communicator 6.2 Design Guidelines Based on TAMED Model 6.3 Technical Considerations 6.4 Human-AI Collaborative System 7. Conclusion 7.1 Research Summary 7.2 Summary of Contributions 7.3 Future Work 7.4 Conclusion박

Identification of faction groups and leaders in Web-based intelligent argumentation system for collaborative decision support

Argumentation is an important and critical process in a collaborative decision-making environment. Several argumentation frameworks and systems have been proposed for collaborative decision making earlier. However, limited decision support is provided to stakeholders. in an argumentation process, stakeholders tend to form groups, called faction groups based on their opinions and exchange of arguments. Each faction group is usually led by a faction leader in the group. Identification of faction groups and leaders in argumentation becomes an important challenge which has not been addressed adequately in the past. the faction assessment in argumentation provides the decision maker with more information about faction groups and their opinions towards the given issue and it helps the decision maker with logical and analytical competency to assess and analyze post-decision effects on each faction group and faction leaders and make rational decisions. in this paper, we present a framework for identifying faction groups and faction leaders in an argumentation process using the K-means clustering algorithm. It is evaluated using a data set: An argumentation tree developed by a group of 24 stakeholders in an argumentation process using our web-Based intelligent argumentation system for collaborative decision support. the experiment results show that the framework works effectively for faction assessment. © 2012 IEEE

Online Deliberation: Design, Research, and Practice

Can new technology enhance purpose-driven, democratic dialogue in groups, governments, and societies? Online Deliberation: Design, Research, and Practice is the first book that attempts to sample the full range of work on online deliberation, forging new connections between academic research, technology designers, and practitioners. Since some of the most exciting innovations have occurred outside of traditional institutions, and those involved have often worked in relative isolation from each other, work in this growing field has often failed to reflect the full set of perspectives on online deliberation. This volume is aimed at those working at the crossroads of information/communication technology and social science, and documents early findings in, and perspectives on, this new field by many of its pioneers. CONTENTS: Introduction: The Blossoming Field of Online Deliberation (Todd Davies, pp. 1-19) Part I - Prospects for Online Civic Engagement Chapter 1: Virtual Public Consultation: Prospects for Internet Deliberative Democracy (James S. Fishkin, pp. 23-35) Chapter 2: Citizens Deliberating Online: Theory and Some Evidence (Vincent Price, pp. 37-58) Chapter 3: Can Online Deliberation Improve Politics? Scientific Foundations for Success (Arthur Lupia, pp. 59-69) Chapter 4: Deliberative Democracy, Online Discussion, and Project PICOLA (Public Informed Citizen Online Assembly) (Robert Cavalier with Miso Kim and Zachary Sam Zaiss, pp. 71-79) Part II - Online Dialogue in the Wild Chapter 5: Friends, Foes, and Fringe: Norms and Structure in Political Discussion Networks (John Kelly, Danyel Fisher, and Marc Smith, pp. 83-93) Chapter 6: Searching the Net for Differences of Opinion (Warren Sack, John Kelly, and Michael Dale, pp. 95-104) Chapter 7: Happy Accidents: Deliberation and Online Exposure to Opposing Views (Azi Lev-On and Bernard Manin, pp. 105-122) Chapter 8: Rethinking Local Conversations on the Web (Sameer Ahuja, Manuel Pérez-Quiñones, and Andrea Kavanaugh, pp. 123-129) Part III - Online Public Consultation Chapter 9: Deliberation in E-Rulemaking? The Problem of Mass Participation (David Schlosberg, Steve Zavestoski, and Stuart Shulman, pp. 133-148) Chapter 10: Turning GOLD into EPG: Lessons from Low-Tech Democratic Experimentalism for Electronic Rulemaking and Other Ventures in Cyberdemocracy (Peter M. Shane, pp. 149-162) Chapter 11: Baudrillard and the Virtual Cow: Simulation Games and Citizen Participation (Hélène Michel and Dominique Kreziak, pp. 163-166) Chapter 12: Using Web-Based Group Support Systems to Enhance Procedural Fairness in Administrative Decision Making in South Africa (Hossana Twinomurinzi and Jackie Phahlamohlaka, pp. 167-169) Chapter 13: Citizen Participation Is Critical: An Example from Sweden (Tomas Ohlin, pp. 171-173) Part IV - Online Deliberation in Organizations Chapter 14: Online Deliberation in the Government of Canada: Organizing the Back Office (Elisabeth Richard, pp. 177-191) Chapter 15: Political Action and Organization Building: An Internet-Based Engagement Model (Mark Cooper, pp. 193-202) Chapter 16: Wiki Collaboration Within Political Parties: Benefits and Challenges (Kate Raynes-Goldie and David Fono, pp. 203-205) Chapter 17: Debian’s Democracy (Gunnar Ristroph, pp. 207-211) Chapter 18: Software Support for Face-to-Face Parliamentary Procedure (Dana Dahlstrom and Bayle Shanks, pp. 213-220) Part V - Online Facilitation Chapter 19: Deliberation on the Net: Lessons from a Field Experiment (June Woong Rhee and Eun-mee Kim, pp. 223-232) Chapter 20: The Role of the Moderator: Problems and Possibilities for Government-Run Online Discussion Forums (Scott Wright, pp. 233-242) Chapter 21: Silencing the Clatter: Removing Anonymity from a Corporate Online Community (Gilly Leshed, pp. 243-251) Chapter 22: Facilitation and Inclusive Deliberation (Matthias Trénel, pp. 253-257) Chapter 23: Rethinking the ‘Informed’ Participant: Precautions and Recommendations for the Design of Online Deliberation (Kevin S. Ramsey and Matthew W. Wilson, pp. 259-267) Chapter 24: PerlNomic: Rule Making and Enforcement in Digital Shared Spaces (Mark E. Phair and Adam Bliss, pp. 269-271) Part VI - Design of Deliberation Tools Chapter 25: An Online Environment for Democratic Deliberation: Motivations, Principles, and Design (Todd Davies, Brendan O’Connor, Alex Cochran, Jonathan J. Effrat, Andrew Parker, Benjamin Newman, and Aaron Tam, pp. 275-292) Chapter 26: Online Civic Deliberation with E-Liberate (Douglas Schuler, pp. 293-302) Chapter 27: Parliament: A Module for Parliamentary Procedure Software (Bayle Shanks and Dana Dahlstrom, pp. 303-307) Chapter 28: Decision Structure: A New Approach to Three Problems in Deliberation (Raymond J. Pingree, pp. 309-316) Chapter 29: Design Requirements of Argument Mapping Software for Teaching Deliberation (Matthew W. Easterday, Jordan S. Kanarek, and Maralee Harrell, pp. 317-323) Chapter 30: Email-Embedded Voting with eVote/Clerk (Marilyn Davis, pp. 325-327) Epilogue: Understanding Diversity in the Field of Online Deliberation (Seeta Peña Gangadharan, pp. 329-358). For individual chapter downloads, go to odbook.stanford.edu

The Proceedings of the 23rd Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research (DGO2022) Intelligent Technologies, Governments and Citizens June 15-17, 2022

The 23rd Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research theme is “Intelligent Technologies, Governments and Citizens”. Data and computational algorithms make systems smarter, but should result in smarter government and citizens. Intelligence and smartness affect all kinds of public values - such as fairness, inclusion, equity, transparency, privacy, security, trust, etc., and is not well-understood. These technologies provide immense opportunities and should be used in the light of public values. Society and technology co-evolve and we are looking for new ways to balance between them. Specifically, the conference aims to advance research and practice in this field. The keynotes, presentations, posters and workshops show that the conference theme is very well-chosen and more actual than ever. The challenges posed by new technology have underscored the need to grasp the potential. Digital government brings into focus the realization of public values to improve our society at all levels of government. The conference again shows the importance of the digital government society, which brings together scholars in this field. Dg.o 2022 is fully online and enables to connect to scholars and practitioners around the globe and facilitate global conversations and exchanges via the use of digital technologies. This conference is primarily a live conference for full engagement, keynotes, presentations of research papers, workshops, panels and posters and provides engaging exchange throughout the entire duration of the conference

Conservative Right-Wing Protest Rhetoric in the Cold War Era of Segregationist Mobilization

In the early Cold War decades, the Citizens’ Councils of America (CCA) became the flagship conservative right-wing social movement organization (SMO). As part of its organizational activities, it engaged in a highly sophisticated propaganda effort to mobilize pro-segregationist opinion, merging traditional racist arguments with modern Cold War geopolitics to characterize civil rights activism and federal civil rights reforms as an effort to bring about a tyrannical, Soviet-inspired, dictatorship. Through a content discourse analysis, this research aims to contribute to understanding what factors determine how SMO’s deploy propaganda rhetoric. The main hypothesis is that geopolitical factors, defined here as specific geographic contexts in which sociopolitical issues are situated and from which propaganda rhetoric is deployed, are influential determinants. Since SMO rhetoric reflects its larger ideological orientation, SMO ideology is also influenced by geopolitical factors. For comparative analysis, propaganda literature from the Ku Klux Klan, as well as elite segregationist rhetoric from the same period is included. Relying on frame theory all rhetoric is quantitatively analyzed centering on the question of what factors drive SMO frame messaging. To contribute to frame theory a concept is proposed called frame constellation, which is a web of SMO frame rhetoric and symbolism that functions as an overlapping, intersecting and interrelated system of ideas which revolve around a central intellectual logic for collective action

Transnational Public Relations in Postcolonial Spaces: Making Space for other Discourses in the Afghan Public Sphere

This dissertation takes up Wakefield’s (1992) call to build theory for international practices of public relations activities. It offers a transnational approach to public relations, providing a theoretical foundation and a case study for the conceptualization of transnational public relations. The theory and practice of transnational public relations proposed in this dissertation incorporates a rhetorical approach that is sensitive to the social, political, cultural, religious and gender issues inherent in postcolonial spaces. Eschewing a rhetorical approach based on civil society discourses or democratic institutional discourses, this project is attentive to listening and responding to a multiplicity of voices in incorporating a culture-centered approach to public relations in postcolonial societies. The theory is rooted in an intersubjective approach that seeks to understand the lived experience of the Other, specifically the realistic situation of the lived experience of marginalized peoples. In particular, this dissertation studies the application of transnational public relations in activist contexts through the case study of a nongovernmental organization working on the ground in postcolonial nations in order to make space for women in the Afghan public sphere. In its activist transnational public relations work, the Women\u27s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE) aims to uncover the possibilities of rhetorical interruptions to dominant discourses and hegemonic employment of power in the Afghan public sphere