Overview

This book intends to throw light on the 'Arab Spring' of 2011 by investigating the specific experience of Egypt. To this end, the revolution in Egypt and its subsequent development are situated within a historical framework of a decade of protest movements and new forms of opposition politics. The book's main argument is that the proliferation of protest movements and groups since 2000 played a significant role in creating a context in which the 2011 mass revolt and the ousting of Mubarak was possible. The book examines a new generation of political activists that arose in response to ever-increasing grievances against authoritarian politics, deteriorating living conditions for the majority of Egyptians as a consequence of neo-liberal policies and the machinery of crony capitalism, and an almost total abandoning by the state of its responsibilities to society at large.