Tara Povey
Social Movements and the Future of Political Change in Egypt
Abstract
Social movements have played a major role in the process of political change in
the Middle East. In Egypt there have been several cycles of protest since 2000
including waves of strikes and demonstrations representing the largest outbreak
of social struggle in the country for over forty years. The participation of millions
of Egyptians in demonstrations calling for an end to the regime of Hosni
Mubarak has shaken the foundations of authoritarian regimes throughout the
region and opened up political space within Egypt allowing social forces to push
for change. Despite pressure from conservative forces, following Mubarak’s
resignation the country has witnessed an increasing level of strikes, student
protests and the formation of new political alliances and configurations. In this
paper I aim to connect the diverse social and political movements in Egypt to
intellectual trends which underpin struggles for democracy, civil rights and
women’s rights in Muslim majority countries. In opposition to ideas of Middle
Eastern ‘exceptionalism’ I argue that the rise of movements in the region are a
result of broader global trends such as the adoption of neo-liberal economic
policies, the increasing securitisation of states and the impact of contemporary
imperialism. Finally, I analyse the future for movements in Egypt and their
prospects for achieving a genuinely transformative political change.
Introduction
In the past months the world has witnessed the greatest expression of popular
mobilisation in the Middle East and North Africa for over thirty years. In a
number of countries social and political movements encompassing broad
sections of society have played a major role in fermenting popular dissent
against corrupt and dictatorial regimes. They have done so despite facing
intense state repression and in the context of an ongoing and chronic political
and economic crisis in the region. Between the 25th of January and the 11th of
February mass demonstrations and strikes forced Hosni Mubarak to step
down. After over thirty years of authoritarian rule under Mubarak and his
predecessor Sadat, political space has been opened up, allowing social forces
to push for change. Despite the recent ‘yes’ vote in the referendum which
many believe entrenches the power of existing political elites and the
instituting of new measures against strikes and protests, social forces in Egypt
are continuing to call for a transformation of the status quo in order to
achieve independence, social justice, dignity and equality. In this paper I
consider the major factors underlying the political crisis in Egypt and the rise
of social movements as forces for change in the country. The changing nature
of the Egyptian state, the consequences of neoliberal economic reforms and
the experience of contemporary imperialism have had an impact on the
2
relationship between political elites, states and movements. They have created
massive tensions within Egypt’s society and political system and led to the rise
of diverse movements, the characteristics of which have an intellectual and
political inheritance which is shared by movements in other countries in the
region and beyond.
Changing States
The changing nature of states and the relationship between states and
societies in the region has been a fundamental part of the context in which
contemporary movements have developed. Arab and Middle Eastern states
have each undergone distinct historical formations and developments while
sharing in the historical experience of colonialism and political and economic
domination by the West. In recent years theorists who employ ideas of Middle
Eastern ‘exceptionalism’ have argued that societies in the region have
followed a different course to their counterparts in the West and elsewhere
due not only due to their specific historical experiences, but to factors such as
culture or religion. Samuel Huntington, for example, has argued that Islam as
a ‘civilisation’ failed to modernise and thus became the antithesis of Western
ideals of democracy and individual liberty1 while others have contended that
the Islamic world lacked the values, social formations and institutions that led
to the growth of civil society in Europe.2 A number of recent works have
challenged culturalist and essentialising analyses of Muslim majority societies3
3
whilst recent events have demonstrated that the assumption that Middle
Eastern societies are conservative and static is fallacious. Furthermore, an
analysis of contemporary Egypt demonstrates that far from being defined by
religion or culture, states in the Middle East and North Africa have been
transformed by economic and political trends which are global in nature.
The Arab world and specifically Egypt was one of the first areas to experience
the experiment of free market ‘development’ policies. In 1974 Sadat’s infitah
began the process of dismantling the statist policies of his predecessor,
Nasser, and structural adjustment programmes were undertaken under the
auspices of the World Bank and the IMF in the early 1990s. Some hoped that
neoliberal economic reforms would lead to the opening up of markets in
countries like Egypt and, following from on this, political liberalisation,4
however, the advent of neoliberalism did not sweep away all remaining
authoritarian regimes. In fact the first decade of the 21st century saw a
hardening of undemocratic regimes in many countries and increasing state
repression in many others. In Egypt, the transformation of the state from
corporatism to neoliberalism involved the withdrawal of the state from the
provision of services such as health, education and welfare and led to “mass
political alienation” among the population.5 Rather than producing a ‘small
state’, neoliberal reforms led to the expansion of the state’s military and
coercive apparatus and produced an increasingly securitised state which relied
4
for its survival on surveillance and coercion of the population.6 Far from
representing an exceptional case, the effects of the transformation of the state
in countries such as Egypt were, according to Guazzone and Pioppi, “fully in
line with trends of change engendered by neo-liberal globalisation elsewhere
in world.”7 Not only did political liberalisation fail to take place in developing
countries such as Egypt, but political freedoms and liberties in Western liberal
democratic countries were eroded by governments faithful to the ideology of
neo-conservatism.8 Indeed neoliberal states with similar characteristics have
emerged in both developed and developing countries and the failure of the
neoliberal project has in many ways exposed a common global crisis in
contemporary capitalism.
Since the end of the cold war, the larger global system in which states operate
has been characterised by a contemporary form of imperialism through which
the US has sought to maintain its position as the world’s only remaining
superpower. In the Middle East and North Africa US foreign policy is premised
on the support of US-friendly authoritarian regimes, the repression of popular
movements and support for Israel, while the last ten years have seen a new
series of imperial ventures in the region with the invasions and occupations of
Afghanistan and Iraq.
5
In Egypt, the demands of workers and civil society had been subordinated
under the nationalist state led by Gamal Abdel Nasser which came to power
following the coup of 1952 and successfully ended British rule. However, the
increasing dependence of the state on foreign aid and its subservience to the
interests of the US and Israel since the 1970s has robbed it of any vestige of
popular support or legitimacy. Having become one of the US’s foremost
puppet regimes, the foreign policy of the Egyptian state has been transformed
in the last three decades away from nationalism and towards ensuring the
continuation of the US’s interests in the region. Egypt was the first Arab state
to recognise Israel following the Camp David agreement in 1978 and to open
diplomatic and trade relations with the Israeli state. By the 1980s, Mubarak’s
regime was receiving the largest amount of aid from the US of any country in
the world other than Israel and was one of the world’s largest importers of
military equipment from the United States.9 Currently Egypt provides Israel
with oil and natural gas and the government has played a crucial role in
enabling the blockade of Gaza which has been in place since the election of
HAMAS in 2006. In Egypt, as elsewhere in the region, the dominance of the US
has had the effect of strengthening undemocratic governments however it has
also led to resistance. In recent years, the brutality of the Israeli occupation,
the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and the invasion of Lebanon in 2006
have been opposed by large anti-war movements which have “encouraged a
broad culture of protest against the Mubarak regime.”10
6
Neoliberalism and contemporary imperialism, have thus transformed the
relationship between state and society in Egypt. They have undermined
popular support for the state which was based on the Nasserite model of
social and economic corporatism and nationalism. The demands of the social
groups which have been alienated from the state, the working class and
middle class have re-emerged and despite facing enormous state repression,
these groups have mobilised in mass contemporary movements which have in
turn played a major role in politics in the country.
Contemporary Movements in Egypt
Egypt is a country with a long history of struggle and from the 19th century
onwards popular movements have campaigned for independence from
foreign powers, social justice and democracy. The last ten years have seen an
upsurge in mass movements in Egypt. The movement in solidarity with the
Palestinian Intifada (2000-2003) was followed in 2004 by the pro-democracy
Kifaya movement. Kifaya (which means ‘enough’ in Arabic) was formed to
demand an end to the presidency of Hosni Mubarak and organised the first
anti-Mubarak demonstration held in downtown Cairo which successfully
challenged the long standing ban on street protests.11 Since early 2000 Egypt
has witnessed the outbreak of a labour movement which has involved strike
action on a scale not seen since the 1940s. Strikes by an estimated 1.7 million
7
workers between 2004 and 200812 culminated in the setting up of
independent trade unions, the first of which was organised by the Real Estate
Tax Collectors in April 2009 and represented the first non-state workers union
in over 50 years. Women have played a vital role in the worker’s movement,
participating in and leading strikes and demonstrations. In the industrial town
of Mahalla, female textile workers initiated and led strikes and women
picketing the state-run General Federation of Egyptian Trade Unions defied
government spokespeople who called on women to return to their homes,
arguing that their place was in the streets.13
Since the 1990s Egypt has also witnessed the exponential growth of NGOs
and private voluntary organisations. In a phenomenon which has been termed
‘social Islam’, neighborhood organisations, mosques and NGOs have stepped
in to fill the gap following the withdrawal of the state from the provision of
welfare and social services.14 Participants with diverse political views are
involved in Islamic social activism, including many women activists who argue
that women are empowered by Islam to play a leadership role in society and
in politics.15
Established in 1928 al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin (the Muslim
Brotherhood) is an organisation with a long history and is today the largest
opposition movement in the country. Since the 1990s it has played an
important role in Egypt’s civil society through mosques, schools, youth
associations, women’s organisations, medical clinics and work co-operatives.16
8
These activities have consolidated grassroots support for the organisation and
helped transform the Muslim Brotherhood into a mass social movement in the
country. 17
Islamic movements are generally portrayed in the West as undemocratic and
are equated with terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism.18 In reality they are
far from being homogenous and uniformly conservative. Islamic reformism,
modernism and dynamic jurisprudence have a long history in the region,
beginning in the 19th century when reformers sought to strengthen and
reform Islam and oppose colonialism.
19
Today, diverse Islamist frameworks
exist which are not based on opposition to the ‘West’ as a whole but rather
oppose the West’s support of undemocratic regimes, the prosecution of wars
in the region and highlight the importance of a society founded on the
principles of social justice and equality. In many parts of the Middle East and
North Africa, Islamic groups have participated in the democratic process and
are playing the role of a genuine political opposition. Since the 1990s a
number of Islamist movements such as the al-Nahda movement in Tunisia,
the Muslim Brotherhood, Hizbullah and HAMAS have entered electoral politics
and have actively campaigned for democratic reform. This has prompted one
author to note that in some countries Islamist movements “have been more
strident in pressing for democratic change than have non-religious political
parties.”20 Women’s activism has played a vitally important role in these
9
movements and diverse strands of Muslim and Islamic feminisms have been
formulated through which women have fought for gender equality as well as
democracy, social justice and freedom from foreign domination.21
The strategies and political frameworks employed by movements are complex
and arise as a result of a history of struggle, as well as changing relationships
with allies, states and political elites. In Egypt a number of broad movements
of the last ten years have involved activists and groups from diverse political
backgrounds including religious, nationalist and leftist backgrounds. Rather
than seeing secularism and Islamism as monolithic and mutually exclusive
positions, activists have recognised both the diversity within such frameworks
and the commonalities that exist between them. This has been important in
building mass movements and campaigns which have cut across sectarian,
religious and political divides as in the pro-democracy movement of 20052006 in which left groups, nationalist groups, the Muslim Brotherhood and
other Islamic groups were active. Linkages between activists of different
political backgrounds also have an important role to play in the period
following the January 25th uprising that unseated Mubarak as new political
alliances and configurations are formed.
A New Political Environment?
10
Following the participation of millions of Egyptians in demonstrations and
strikes which brought down Hosni Mubarak a wave of industrial struggle has
been sweeping the country. Journalists from the independent Egyptian
newspaper al-Masri al-youm reported that between the 12th to the 14th of
February, 40 to 60 different labour protests involving tens of thousands of
workers took place every day around the country.22 Strikes continued to
spread despite the army’s communiqué that workers must return to work and
requests made by religious leaders such as the reformist Sheikh Yusuf alQaradawi.
23
Workers strikes have taken place in diverse industries across the
country, especially in industrial areas such as Mahalla, Helwan and Nasr City in
both public and privately run companies and Egypt’s independent trade
unions and professional syndicates have grouped themselves into an
Independent Trade Union Federation.
Protests and strikes have encompassed the broad sections of society which
were systematically alienated and repressed by Mubarak’s regime, including
workers, students who have held strikes demanding the sacking of university
presidents,24 small farmers in rural areas and the residents of Cairo’s
Ashwa’iyyat (slums).25 New political parties, alliances and configurations have
also been formed as a result of the uprising. The Muslim Brotherhood has
traditionally defined itself as a Jami‘ah, a broad society rather than a political
party with members adhering to one platform, however the recent uprising
11
has forced ideological and generational splits in to the open. Whilst the
leadership of the organisation did not play a major role in the uprising,
thousands of ordinary members and particularly youth took part in the
demonstrations and strikes which brought down Mubarak. A view of the
leadership as more conservative than the movement on the ground has been
further strengthened by the organisation’s support of the constitutional
referendum on the grounds of maintaining stability in the country. By early
March the formation of new Islamist youth parties by former members of the
organisation was announced, including the Nahda or Renaissance Party26 and
a new Islamist youth party led by Amr Khaled. 27
The removal of Mubarak has led to the opening up of political space which
has allowed the Muslim Brotherhood to take part in the political process as a
formally recognised ‘party’ for the first time. This has exposed contradictions
within the broad ideology of the group and may cause further rifts to open.
Divisions centre on economic policy, social policy and the position of Egypt
vis-à-vis the United States and Israel. In terms of the economy,
the
leadership’s previous support for neoliberal economic policies undertaken by
Sadat28 and the lauding of private property as a fundamental right are an
anathema to those members who are see Islam as a socially just and equitable
social system. Secondly there is the issue of the dominance exercised by the
US in the country through its massive aid and military funding, the
12
continuance of the peace treaty with Israel and the hugely unpopular
blockade of Gaza. Divisions have also arisen over the Muslim Brotherhood’s
new political platform which takes a conservative stance by excluding women
and Copts from the presidency, a position that is seen by many to contradict
previous statements made by the Brotherhood
29
and a growing body of
thought which is based on a dynamic jurisprudence and the formation of
religio-political frameworks founded on equality and justice.
For many decades the policy of Western governments has been one of
repressing opposition movements in the name of fighting ‘terrorism’ and
Islamic fundamentalism while at the same time supporting extremely
conservative regimes in countries such as Saudi Arabia. The disastrous effects
of this policy, which can be described as ‘democracy only on our terms’ can be
seen in the civil war which followed the election of FIS in Algeria and the
humanitarian crisis which has resulted from the blockade of Gaza. The case of
Egypt exposes both its futility and injustice. Whereas the years of USsanctioned state terror under Mubarak closed down political dissent, the
political space created by the mass movement has allowed alternative voices
from both religious and secular backgrounds including those of workers, the
young, students and women to be heard.
Conclusion
13
Egyptian movements for change have arisen and mobilised within a specific
political and economic context, elements of which have been experienced by
other countries in the region and globally. In this paper I have argued that this
context is characterised by a crisis brought about by the nature of
contemporary imperialism and the development of ever more authoritarian
and militaristic neoliberal states. In response movements have arisen which
have opposed the ravages that neoliberal globalisation and imperialism have
wrought on their countries and have fought for social justice, democracy and
the survival of their communities. Since the removal of Mubarak a number of
social forces have pushed for genuine and transformative change in Egypt.
Although they operate in an increasingly difficult political environment,
workers, women, students, the poor, activists in left and nationalist groups and
activists in Islamic groups with differing orientations are now taking part in a
debate over the future of the country which was not possible during the 30
years that the US and its allies supported the military dictatorship of Mubarak.
The future of political change in Egypt lies with these diverse social groups
and movements and its effects, like those of the 25th January uprising will
continue to impact on political dynamics in Egypt, the region and beyond.
Notes
1
Huntington, 2002.
Gellner, 1995; Mardin, 1995.
3
See for example Abdelrahman, 2004, Bayat, 2005, Lockman, 2004 and Wiktorowicz, 2004.
4
Springbourg, 1989; Vatikiotis, 1991.
5
Farsoun and Zacharia, 1995 p. 263.
2
14
6
Kienle, 2001, p. 131; Paczynska, 2006, p. 46.
Guazzone and Pioppi, 2009, p.1.
8
Harvey, 2005, p. 81-82; Young, 2003.
9
Beinin, 2009, p. 20.
10
Alexander, 2009, p. 150.
11
El Mahdi, 2009.
12
Beinin, 2010, p. 14.
13
Interview conducted with a female leader of a strike syndicate in Cairo, December, 2009.
14
Bayat, 2009.
15
Hafez, 2003.
16
Bayat, 2007, p. 40.
17
El-Ghobashy, 2005.
18
Harb, 2005.
19
Rahnema, 2008, Mitchell, 1993, Keddie, 1972.
20
Niblock, 2005, p. 490.
21
For discussion of debates within Islamic and Muslim feminist movements and currents see
Mir-Hosseini, 2010, Wadud, 2006, Afshar, 1999 and Ahmed, 1992.
22
Ali, Khaled ‘A Roadmap for Labor’, published on 17/02/2011 in al-Masri al-Youm, accessed
on 09/03/2011, http://www.almasryalyoum.com/node/321604
23
Fadel, Mohammad ‘Labor and the Future of the Egyptian Revolution’, published on
14/03/2011 in al-Masri al-Youm, accessed on 15/03/2011,
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/node/352272
24
Habib, Mohamed ‘Revolution Restores Student Power to Egypt Campuses’, published on
14/03/2011 in al-Ahram, accessed on 29/03/2011,
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/7629.aspx
25
Bayat, Asef ‘Paradoxes of Arab Refo-lutions’, published on 13/03/2011 in al-Masri al-Youm,
accessed on 15/03/2011, http://www.almasryalyoum.com/node/351032
26
El-Hennawy, Noha ‘Political freedom, competition drives rifts between Muslim Brotherhood
factions’ published on 24/03/2011 in al-Masri al-Youm, accessed on 25/03/2011 at
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/node/372967
27
Dabbour, Haitham ‘Islamic preacher prepares to form political party’, published on
08/03/2011 in al-Masri al-Youm, accessed on 15/03/2011 at
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/node/344822
28
Naguib, 2009.
29
Abdel-Latif, 2008.
7
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Tara Povey is a PhD candidate in the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies
at the University of Sydney. Her area of research is social movements in Egypt
and Iran and since 2006 she has been conducting interviews with prodemocracy activists in Egypt including participants in workers movements who
have set up the first independent trade unions in the country for over 50 years.
18