Youth and the revolution in Egypt: what kinship tells us

Abstract

Studies of youth in Arab societies have tended to posit and explore their social exclusion, marginalization and even de-politicization. Events sparked by the January 25 uprising in Egypt have reconstructed youth in a contradictory light, hailing them as new symbols of the nation. Careful consideration of current thinking in the anthropology of kinship and the nation, however, cautions the audience of the revolution to think twice. Taking for granted the ‘blurred boundaries’ between kinship and the nation, this paper suggests that the transformation from ‘totalizing and patricentric rule’ in Egypt evokes the symbolism of kinship and its wider metaphorical uses, manipulations and transformations. It uses kinship to re-examine the role of youth in the Egypt revolution, on the one hand, and the end of Hosni Mubarak's totalizing and patricentric regime, on the other. Firstly, it shows how a discursive concern with youth's place in the revolution is simultaneously and more strongly a concern with kinship. It then sheds light on the kinship idiom that has defined the Egyptian nation since its birth to its ‘demubarakization’. Finally, it shows how kinship and nation are mutually susceptible to manipulations and transformations in the aftermath of the revolution. The paper concludes by noting the relevance of kinship to contemporary political events.

Shattered worlds: political trauma amongst young activists in post-revolutionary Egypt

“…For other studies on youth mobilisation in Egypt, see Shahine (2011), Herrera (2012, Sika (2012), Laiq (2013), Sawaf (2013), Abdalla (2016) and El Tohamy (2016).…”

Political Turmoil and the Post-Eighties Generation in Kashmir: Aspirations, Anxieties, and Future Trajectories

“…Specifically, the series of popular uprisings in the Arab world in 2011, which were partly fuelled by social media, highlighted the role of the young and their culture in organized political activism (Sawaf 2013;Staeheli and Nagel 2013). The events of this "Arab Spring" posit and provide a testing case for the youth depoliticization thesis, because formal politics is no longer defined by activities like taking to streets, voting, etc., but rather young people may galvanize their cohorts by taking to cyberspaces' and social media more broadly.…”

“Revolutionary Youth” in Egypt: Interfaith Relations Since the 2011 Revolution

“…The government views that feeding the youth, giving them job opportunities, and enabling them to marry are already significant challenges (LaGraffe, 2012). The leaders often portray themselves as the provider for the young population and, in official discourse, have even projected themselves as “the father of the youth” (Sawaf, 2013, pp. 9–11).…”

“…1. Zina Sawaf (2013) precisely describes how the rulers have created the image of “the father of [Egyptian] nation” including Egyptian youth in the history.…”