Positioning the Egyptian Revolution

Abstract

On January 25th Egyptians launched a formidable uprising that managed, in 18 days, to oust President Mubarak and his close associates, the junta that ruled the country for the previous three decades. Their success came a month after their Tunisian brethrens had managed to oust President Ben Ali. The fall of Mubarak earned the name, “revolution,” and hence became the fastest “revolution” ever. The nature and implications of this fast “revolution” quickly captured wide attention. However, it was the speed with which the regime managed to contain the “revolution” that obsessed the minds and souls of the activists. As a result, the Egyptian political imaginary has become shaped by a painful standoff between “revolution” and “counter revolution.” This article examines how this standoff worked itself out. More concretely, it tries to lay out terms for qualifying activities as “counter-revolutionary” or otherwise. This analysis is meant to provide the criteria needed for assessing post-revolutionary developments in Egypt, a project which I plan to take up in a subsequent article.