Liberation Square
Liberation Square

Author: Ashraf Khalil

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Published: 2012-01-03

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 1429962445

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A definitive, absorbing account of the Egyptian revolution, written by a Cairo-based Egyptian-American reporter for Foreign Policy and The Times (London), who witnessed firsthand Mubarak's demise and the country's efforts to build a democracy In early 2011, the world's attention was riveted on Cairo, where after three decades of supremacy, Hosni Mubarak was driven from power. It was a revolution as swift as it was explosive. For eighteen days, anger, defiance, and resurgent national pride reigned in the streets---protestors of all ages struck back against police and state security, united toward the common goal of liberation. But the revolution was more than a spontaneous uprising. It was the end result of years of mounting tension, brought on by a state that shamelessly abused its authority, rigging elections, silencing opposition, and violently attacking its citizens. When revolution bloomed in the region in January 2011, Egypt was a country whose patience had expired---with a people suddenly primed for liberation. As a journalist based in Cairo, Ashraf Khalil was an eyewitness to the perfect storm that brought down Mubarak and his regime. Khalil was subjected to tear gas alongside protestors in Tahrir Square, barely escaped an enraged mob, and witnessed the day-to-day developments from the frontlines. From the halls of power to the back alleys of Cairo, he offers a one-of-a-kind look at a nation in the throes of an uprising. Liberation Square is a revealing and dramatic look at the revolution that transformed the modern history of one of the world's oldest civilizations.

Egypt in a Time of Revolution
Egypt in a Time of Revolution

Author: Neil Ketchley

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017-04-03

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1316885852

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This book considers the diverse forms of mass mobilization and contentious politics that emerged during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 and its aftermath. Drawing on a catalogue of more than 8,000 protest events, as well as interviews, video footage and still photographs, Neil Ketchley provides the first systematic account of how Egyptians banded together to overthrow Husni Mubarak, and how old regime forces engineered a return to authoritarian rule. Eschewing top-down, structuralist and culturalist explanations, the author shows that the causes and consequences of Mubarak's ousting can only be understood by paying close attention to the evolving dynamics of contentious politics witnessed in Egypt since 2011. Setting these events within a larger social and political context, Ketchley sheds new light on the trajectories and legacies of the Arab Spring, as well as recurring patterns of contentious collective action found in the Middle East and beyond.

Why Occupy a Square?
Why Occupy a Square?

Author: Jeroen Gunning

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2014-01-10

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 0190257644

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On 25 January 2011, tens of thousands of Egyptians came out on the streets to protest against emergency rule and police brutality. Eighteen days later, Mubarak, one of the longest sitting dictators in the region, had gone. How are we to make sense of these events? Was this a revolution, a revolutionary moment? How did the protests come about? How were they able to outmaneuver the police? Was this really a 'leaderless revolution,' as so many pundits claimed, or were the demonstrations an outgrowth of the protest networks that had developed over the past decade? Why did so many people with no history of activism participate? What role did economic and systemic crises play in creating the conditions for these protests to occur? Was this really a Facebook revolution? Why Occupy a Square? is a dynamic exploration of the shape and timing of these extraordinary events, the players behind them, and the tactics and protest frames they developed. Drawing on social movement theory, it traces the interaction between protest cycles, regime responses and broader structural changes over the past decade. Using theories of urban politics, space and power, it reflects on the exceptional state of non-sovereign politics that developed during the occupation of Tahrir Square.

The Struggle for Egypt
The Struggle for Egypt

Author: Steven A. Cook

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2011-10-07

Total Pages: 433

ISBN-13: 019992080X

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The recent revolution in Egypt has shaken the Arab world to its roots. The most populous Arab country and the historical center of Arab intellectual life, Egypt is a lynchpin of the US's Middle East strategy, receiving more aid than any nation except Israel. This is not the first time that the world and has turned its gaze to Egypt, however. A half century ago, Egypt under Nasser became the putative leader of the Arab world and a beacon for all developing nations. Yet in the decades prior to the 2011 revolution, it was ruled over by a sclerotic regime plagued by nepotism and corruption. During that time, its economy declined into near shambles, a severely overpopulated Cairo fell into disrepair, and it produced scores of violent Islamic extremists such as Ayman al-Zawahiri and Mohammed Atta. In this new and updated paperback edition of The Struggle for Egypt, Steven Cook--a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations--explains how this parlous state of affairs came to be, why the revolution occurred, and where Egypt is headed now. A sweeping account of Egypt in the modern era, it incisively chronicles all of the nation's central historical episodes: the decline of British rule, the rise of Nasser and his quest to become a pan-Arab leader, Egypt's decision to make peace with Israel and ally with the United States, the assassination of Sadat, the emergence of the Muslim Brotherhood, and--finally--the demonstrations that convulsed Tahrir Square and overthrew an entrenched regime. And for the paperback edition, Cook has updated the book to include coverage of the recent political events in Egypt, including the election of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi as President. Throughout Egypt's history, there has been an intense debate to define what Egypt is, what it stands for, and its relation to the world. Egyptians now have an opportunity to finally answer these questions. Doing so in a way that appeals to the vast majority of Egyptians, Cook notes, will be difficult but ultimately necessary if Egypt is to become an economically dynamic and politically vibrant society.

Politics and Revolution in Egypt
Politics and Revolution in Egypt

Author: Sarah Anne Rennick

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-08-14

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13: 9780367593346

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In the years since the 2011 revolutions, Egypt and the Arab countries in general have moved from a profound moment of hope and democratic potential to deepened authoritarianism and outright war. Among the many political actors who have seen their political prospects rise and fall are youth activists, the revolutionary vanguard who spearheaded the transition process. This book offers a detailed analysis of Egypt's revolutionary youth as a collective and non-institutionalized political actor since 2005, bringing forth in particular the organizational, ideational, and strategic dimensions of the social movement. It offers insights into the origins of the movement and its evolution over time, the activists' claims and objectives, and the rationale behind their actions/interactions in the greater political arena. Proposing a theoretical framework that lies at the nexus of practice theory and social movement theory, the book demonstrates how the foundational practices of "youth" and "revolutionary" acted as the movement's internal culture, shaping the activists' claims and goals, their organizational structures, and their choice of strategies and repertoires of contention. In the context of a defunct Arab Spring and the region's descent into deepened authoritarianism and ultra-violent conflict, the book sheds light on the Egyptian uprising and the reasons for its increasingly grim outcome by providing a detailed analysis of one of its key players and both the exogenous and endogenous reasons why the revolutionary youth activists failed to achieve their goals. As the first book to assess the revolutionary youth as a social movement distinct from other forms of activism and other youth groups/parties in Egypt, it will be a valuable resource for anyone with an interest in Middle East Studies, the Arab Spring, or social movements more generally.

Arab Spring in Egypt
Arab Spring in Egypt

Author: Bahgat Korany

Publisher: American University in Cairo Press

Published: 2012-09-01

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 1617973556

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Beginning in Tunisia, and spreading to as many as seventeen Arab countries, the street protests of the 'Arab Spring' in 2011 empowered citizens and banished their fear of speaking out against governments. The Arab Spring belied Arab exceptionalism, widely assumed to be the natural state of stagnation in the Arab world amid global change and progress. The collapse in February 2011 of the regime in the region's most populous country, Egypt, led to key questions of why, how, and with what consequences did this occur? Inspired by the "contentious politics" school and Social Movement Theory, Arab Spring in Egypt addresses these issues, examining the reasons behind the collapse of Egypt's authoritarian regime; analyzing the group dynamics in Tahrir Square of various factions: labor, youth, Islamists, and women; describing economic and external issues and comparing Egypt's transition with that of Indonesia; and reflecting on the challenges of transition.

Women and the Egyptian Revolution
Women and the Egyptian Revolution

Author: Nermin Allam

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 1108421903

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An examination of women′s political participation and engagement during and after the 2011 uprising in Egypt.

Media, Revolution and Politics in Egypt
Media, Revolution and Politics in Egypt

Author: Abdalla F. Hassan

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2015-10-01

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 0857726579

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For too long Egypt's system of government was beholden to the interests of the elite in power, aided by the massive apparatus of the security state. Breaking point came on 25 January 2011. But several years after popular revolt enthralled a global audience, the struggle for democracy and basic freedoms are far from being won. Media, Revolution, and Politics in Egypt: The Story of an Uprising examines the political and media dynamic in pre-and post-revolution Egypt and what it could mean for the country's democratic transition. We follow events through the period leading up to the 2011 revolution, eighteen days of uprising, military rule, an elected president's year in office, and his ouster by the military. Activism has expanded freedoms of expression only to see those spaces contract with the resurrection of the police state. And with sharpening political divisions, the facts have become amorphous as ideological trends cling to their own narratives of truth.

Militarizing the Nation
Militarizing the Nation

Author: Zeinab Abul-Magd

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2017-03-21

Total Pages: 396

ISBN-13: 0231542801

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Egypt's army portrays itself as a faithful guardian "saving the nation." Yet saving the nation has meant militarizing it. Zeinab Abul-Magd examines both the visible and often invisible efforts by Egypt's semi-autonomous military to hegemonize the country's politics, economy, and society over the past six decades. The Egyptian army has adapted to and benefited from crucial moments of change. It weathered the transition to socialism in the 1960s, market consumerism in the 1980s, and neoliberalism from the 1990s onward, all while enhancing its political supremacy and expanding a mammoth business empire. Most recently, the military has fought back two popular uprisings, retained full power in the wake of the Arab Spring, and increased its wealth. While adjusting to these shifts, military officers have successfully transformed urban milieus into ever-expanding military camps. These spaces now host a permanent armed presence that exercises continuous surveillance over everyday life. Egypt's military business enterprises have tapped into the consumer habits of the rich and poor alike, reaping unaccountable profits and optimizing social command. Using both a political economy approach and a Foucauldian perspective, Militarizing the Nation traces the genealogy of the Egyptian military for those eager to know how such a controversial power gains and maintains control.