Talk 11: Beneficent Communication as Power. Talk 12: Women’s Digital Voices and the Reconfiguration of Public Debate.

Marianne Najm Abou-Jaoudé, Roula Douglas Azar, Katia Raya Rami, Marguerite El Asmar Bou Aoun (Saint Joseph University of Beirut, Lebanese American University), Jil Muller (Paderborn University), Daniel Fischer

Register here: https://indico.uni-paderborn.de/event/156/

09.06.2026, 4.30-6pm (Paris time)

Marianne Najm Abou-Jaoude - Beneficent Communication as Power

This presentation proposes a three-level framework—safe, responsible and beneficent—to analyse and foster constructive forms of women’s agency in contemporary digital media ecologies. “Safe” designates not engaging in practices and structures that include violence, exploitation and manipulation online and offline. “Responsible” refers to doing no harm, ensuring fairness and structural justice. “Beneficent” goes further, namely actively promote the flourishing of others, create conditions for dialogue and build the common good, and is presented as the key to reimagining women’s power in and through media. Drawing on case studies of women communicators in religious, civic and grassroots community contexts, this research examines digital practices through the three cumulative levels of positive ethics in communication to illuminate how such engagements challenge exclusionary structures in theology and philosophy.  A few case studies examples would be first, women moderating encrypted messaging groups that coordinate neighborhood mutual aid and emotional support while establishing clear norms of safety and verification. A second examines women leaders in faith-based digital communities who use livestreams and social media to host spaces of shared discernment, interreligious encounter and reconciliation. A third considers women running community radio and podcast collectives that platform the voices of migrant, indigenous or otherwise marginalised women, combining journalistic rigour with participatory storytelling. 

About the Speaker: Marianne Najm Abou Jaoude is a telecom engineer finishing her doctoral research at Sophia University Institute near Florence in Italy. Her thesis concerns ethics of AI and the responsibility of everyone in building a safe and peaceful future. She developed a framework about a digital oath that includes beneficence in communication and systems design, and the role of technology such as generative AI in peacebuilding and depolarization. Her work examines progressive ethical levels and the concept of collaborative positive ethics to foster human-centric innovation and inclusive digital communication

Roula Azar Douglas – Women’s Digital Voices and the Reconfiguration of Public Debate

In the contemporary digital landscape, social media platforms, blogs, and online communities have emerged as significant spaces where women articulate political, philosophical, religious, or secular positions. Far from being peripheral, these digital arenas are vital sites for rethinking legitimacy, influence, and participation in public discourse. This paper examines how women — from secular thinkers and educators to feminist digital activists, as well as Christian pastors in Europe and Muslim scholars in the Arab world — use digital media to challenge traditional frameworks, reinterpret doctrines or social norms, and create alternative spaces for reflection, critique, and debate. Through selected case studies, the paper analyzes strategies these women employ to reach diverse audiences: the mobilization of storytelling and personal narrative, the use of pedagogical tools, and the deliberate cultivation of online communities that function as safe spaces for questioning and dissent. It also considers aesthetic and rhetorical choices — such as visual branding and accessible language — that enhance the effectiveness of their digital presence. Particular attention is devoted to how these actors navigate visibility in environments where religious, cultural, or political expectations can restrict women’s public expression. This includes facing harassment, censorship, or community backlash, while leveraging alliances, digital solidarity networks, and transnational audiences to amplify their voices. The study highlights how digital platforms enable women to bypass traditional gatekeepers and establish new forms of authority rooted in experience, authenticity, and community engagement. Ultimately, it sheds light on how online spaces are reshaping women’s participation in intellectual and spiritual debates, highlighting both persistent obstacles and emerging opportunities for more inclusive, plural, and transformative dialogue.

About the Speaker: Roula Azar Douglas is a Lebanese-Canadian researcher, journalist, writer, and academic interested in the role of media in shaping social realities. She is the founder and president of the Union de la presse francophone – Liban (UPF Liban), a mentor with the Global Thinkers Forum in London, and serves on the editorial board of the Middle East edition of the scientific journal Hermès. Douglas coordinates the National Observatory of Women in Research (CNRS-L) and contributes to a research project on gender equality with the Diane Chair at USJ and the French Institute for Research and Development (IRD). She also oversees a weekly page on universities, research, and youth for L’Orient-Le Jour and is the author of Le jour où le soleil ne s’est pas levé (2018) and Chez nous, c’était le silence (2007)