Politics and Revolution in Egypt: Rise and Fall of the Youth Activists by Sarah Anne Rennick

Author:Sarah Anne Rennick [Rennick, Sarah Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Middle Eastern, Social Science, Political Science, World, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9781351732710
Google: aipKDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2018-01-29T12:32:56+00:00

Demarcating Identity Borders

The effect of intense social solidarity and the erasure of normal distinctions during the eighteen days of uprising served to reduce demarcations of identity, bringing forth instead the intrinsic universal qualities and the common collective identity of “Egyptian.” Nonetheless, the revolutionary youth movement during the eighteen days did see itself as a distinct actor, and the establishment of the coalition served to delineate a collective identity and a border of inclusion/exclusion that separated the revolutionary youth from both other political actors as well as the Egyptian masses. Deciding who would be included in the coalition—and the criteria on which such a decision is based—is in essence a process of collective identity construction. Establishing the coalition, thus, served not only to build a common organizational resource at the intra-movement level but also to reassert the foundations on which the movement’s collective identity was founded.

The common analysis of the coalition, which can be seen in press reports, is that the various members shared the same demands and preconditions regarding the resolution of the revolution, and that these shared demands bridged ideological divides. I take this one step further, and argue that the basis for inclusion in the coalition went beyond common demands and was dependent upon the movement’s broader interpretation of revolutionary ideals. The demands put forth by the coalition during the eighteen days were relatively straightforward: the immediate departure of Mubarak from power; the dissolving of both houses of parliament; the amendment of the constitution, and specifically the articles pertaining to elections; the rescinding of the State of Emergency; and justice for those killed in the uprising. What is striking about these demands is their relative short-sightedness and backward-looking quality: the coalition did not promulgate a vision of what type of political system should emerge or who should manage the transitional period, nor did it touch upon key socio-economic demands, which were a dominant theme of the uprising. Looking beyond the surface level of these demands, however, reveals revolutionary goals and an understanding of the nature of the Egyptian political system that is endemic to the assumptive schemes of the revolutionary youth.

In this vein, the demands of the coalition demonstrate the evolving priorities and goals of the community of practice, involving a recasting of state–society relations and social interactions. To achieve this, the movement expressed the need for a total remodeling of the political system. In their interpretation, any attempt at reform or comprise with the current regime or its vestiges would be unable to achieve the goals of the revolution, given the problem of corruption and its exertion of non-transparency, non-accountability, and injustice across the entire political system. For the activists, the achievement of the revolutionary goals required a complete dismantling of the bureaucracy in order to achieve radical change. It is thus not the demand for Mubarak’s departure and the dissolution of the legislature that forms the basis of the coalition’s collective identity, but this understanding of the need to attack the system at all levels. Such

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