Suchergebnisse

In Youth in Egypt, Nadine Sika explores the political world of young people in Egypt, focusing on their experiences under authoritarianism. From the reigns of Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat to that of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, she offers an on-the-ground perspective through the eyes of multiple generations of young people who lived through consecutive periods of political upheaval and state militarization. Drawing on surveys, interviews, and focus groups, Sika shines a light on youth who have participated in protest movements, civil society organizations, and political parties. She shows us the different opportunities for economic and political participation that exist for them, explaining why young Egyptians may choose to either mobilize against or - surprisingly - in support of the regime. Sika underscores how youth in Egypt have been regarded as both the "hope of the nation" and a "threat to the nation." Youth in Egypt shines a light on the rising generation of young people that represents Egypt's future and also has significant implications for the broader Middle East and North Africa region.

An eye-opening look at youth in contemporary Egypt, from the role they play in advancing political change to their everyday strugglesIn Youth in Egypt, Nadine Sika explores the political world of young people in Egypt, focusing on their experiences under authoritarianism. From the reigns of Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat to that of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, she offers an on-the-ground perspective through the eyes of multiple generations of young people who lived through consecutive periods of political upheaval and state militarization.Drawing on surveys, interviews, and focus groups, Sika shines a light on youth who have participated in protest movements, civil society organizations, and political parties. She shows us the different opportunities for economic and political participation that exist for them, explaining why young Egyptians may choose to either mobilize against or—surprisingly—in support of the regime. Sika underscores how youth in Egypt have been regarded as both the "hope of the nation" and a "threat to the nation." Youth in Egypt shines a light on the rising generation of young people that represents Egypt's future and also has significant implications for the broader Middle East and North Africa region

In 2018 new economic reform measures were implemented in Egypt and Jordan under the auspices of the International Monetary Fund. These measures were met with public outrage in both countries. In Jordan, mass mobilization, demonstrations and strikes took place, lasted for a month and ended in policy concessions. In Egypt, however, only few independent demonstrations erupted, no mass mobilization occurred, and no policy concessions were enacted by the regime. This article seeks to understand, why activists were able to mobilize large numbers of citizens and attain policy concessions in Jordan, while they were not able to in Egypt. I argue that in authoritarian regimes, different types of repressive strategies against activists and their movements impact their ability to develop networks and advance short-term policy concessions. Targeted repression against activists enables the development of formal and informal networks in addition to coalitions, increasing a movements' bargaining power. However, widespread repression hampers the development of all types of networks, especially formal networks, which impedes activists' ability to bargain for policy concessions.

How do authoritarian regimes fragment protest movements in the aftermath of mass protests? How do protest movements deal with these authoritarian measures in return? Based on qualitative fieldwork with 70 young people in Egypt from April until November 2015, I demonstrate that regimes which face major contentious events and transition back to authoritarian rule, utilize two main strategies for fragmenting protest movements: repression and cooptation. The main literature on protest movements contends that regimes respond to protest movements through a combination of repression and concession to offset movement gains and eliminate their motivations for further protests. More concessions are believed to be effective in democratic regimes, while more repression is effective in authoritarian regimes. However, the results of this fieldwork demonstrate the importance of repression in addition to cooptation in authoritarian regimes, which is largely ignored in the literature on protest movements. Cooptation is an instrumental tactic for the regime in two manners: first it creates internal struggles within the movements themselves, which adds to their fragmentation. Second, it facilitates a regime's repression against protest movement actors. This creates more fragmentation in addition to deterrence to the development of new protest movements and protest activities.

According to the roadmap for political transformation announced in July 2013, Egypt's parliamentary elections should have taken place six months after the constitutional amendments. Yet, since then, they have been postponed several times. They are now scheduled for March and April 2015. Until recently, the regime has been reluctant to hold parliamentary elections, fearing an unruly parliament not dominated by a regime party, as in the past. In June and December 2014, the government enacted a new electoral law and an electoral district law, which will reduce the chances of political parties in general - and political opposition parties in particular - from gaining a substantive number of seats in parliament. By deliberately impeding political parties from playing an important role in parliament, the regime is just adding to its own volatility. Therefore, priority should be given to pushing for the inclusion of all political forces in the electoral process and the strengthening of political parties. (SWP Comments)