The Egyptian Revolution: Imaginaries of the good life during the 18 days of revolution at Tahrir Square in 2011

In my dissertation I explore and interpret the different kind of life that was created at Tahrir Square during the 18 days of the Egyptian Revolution between January 25 and February 11 in 2011. During this short period, the usual ways of doing things were sidelined, and a new kind of life was created, if only temporary. To explore and interpret this life, I put forward two overall arguments.

As one overall argument, I contend that the kind of life created during the 18 days of revolution at Tahrir Square in 2011 constituted a primary way of contesting the regime. I use the concept of prefiguration and my own concept of imaginaries of the good life to explore the kind of life created and to contend that life at the square did indeed constitute a contestation of the regime. By approaching the revolution in terms that are not related to the sphere of formal politics, I provide an innovative approach for the study of revolutions or modern protest movements.

As another overall argument, I contend that the revolutionary imaginaries of the good life can be interpreted as specifically modern. I use selected elements from theories of modernity to set up this argument. My main interpretative tool is the distinction between three ideal typical ways of creating order in the modern world. Here, I draw in particular on Dietrich Jung’s synthesis of Peter Wagner’s theory of successive modernities and Andreas Reckwitz’s theory of three cultural types of modern subjectivity formation. In my rendition of Jung’s framework, I place a particular emphasis on agency and ordinary life by including texts by John Meyer and Ronald Jepperson, and by Charles Taylor. Moreover, I draw on elements of Egyptian history to explain how these globally relevant ideal types take on local forms in the context of the revolution. My analytical approach to my sources is discursive and text-near.

By interpreting the revolutionary imaginaries of the good life through selected theories of modernity, I contribute to the overall aim of the collective research project of which my PhD is part. In our collective research project, we posit that theories of modernity can be fruitfully used in understanding social phenomena in the Arab world. By showing how my rendition of Jung’s theoretical framework can meaningfully be used to interpret the revolutionary imaginaries, I contribute to substantiating this proposition.

In support of the two overall arguments, the dissertation uses primary sources in Arabic that, so far, have not been used comprehensively to analyze the Egyptian Revolution. Previously un-analyzed sources include, to the best of my knowledge, most of the included posts from the We Are All Khaled Said Facebook page, diaries in Arabic by some of the participants in the revolution, and probably a good number of the slogans. In this way, the dissertation contributes with an in-depth analysis of new material. Moreover, some of the slogans and the We Are All Khaled Said Facebook page in its entirety have disappeared from the internet since the beginning of my study. My use of Arabic quotes in Arabic therefore also contributes to the documentation of the revolution.

My findings are presented in two major analytical parts, namely a part in which I analyze the revolutionary imaginaries of the individual and a part in which I analyze the revolutionary imaginaries of the collective. The two above-mentioned arguments are interwoven throughout the dissertation.

In my analyses of the revolutionary imaginaries of the individual, I contend that the individual is presented as valuable, agentic, and ordinary. In chapter four I assert that the individual is imagined as valuable by presenting the participants in the revolution as human beings (as opposed to, for example, animals), and by ascribing positive characteristics and rights to them. In chapter five I argue that the individual is imagined as agentic by presenting the participants as responsible, determined, capable of building a better society, and creative. And in chapter six I maintain that the individual is imagined as ordinary by presenting the participants as individuals with ordinary concerns and by ascribing to them specific prototypical Egyptian traits. Moreover, I assert that the organization of the square was based on ordinary life ideals such as the leveling of hierarchies. Theoretically, my analyses in this part of the dissertation show how the revolutionary imaginaries of the individual display traits that can meaningfully be interpreted through the lens of theories of modernity. On an overall level, these include the idea that all human beings are equally valuable, that humans, above God, are expected to create order, and that ordinary life is the locus of the good life. At the same time, these modern notions are expressed in specifically local terms: For example, by setting the notion of the valuable individual in opposition to the way Egyptians were treated before the revolution, by drawing on pre-revolutionary creative protest approaches to present the individual as capable of creating order, and by ascribing prototypical traits of ordinary Egyptians to the participants.

In my analyses of the revolutionary imaginaries of the collective, I contend that the collective of the Egyptian people is presented as united, agentic, and heterogeneous. In chapter seven I maintain that the dominant collective entity in the revolutionary imaginaries is the Egyptian people, and that this collective is presented as united, agentic, and “leaderful”. And in chapter eight I assert that the collective of the Egyptian people is furthermore presented as heterogeneous. I characterize dominant sub-categories of individuals within this collective and argue that imaginaries of positive diversity and complementarity merge. Moreover, I assert that the kind of social order imagined as desirable is non-politicized and that youth is imagined as occupying some sort of leadership position in it. I interpret these imaginaries of the collective as specifically modern. Theoretically, my analyses in this part of the dissertation show how the revolutionary imaginaries of the collective display elements that can meaningfully be interpreted through the lens of theories of modernity. On an overall level, these include the notion of a united, agentic collective, and the celebration of pluralism and a pluralist social order. These elements are expressed in specifically local terms, by drawing, for example, on the local cross and crescent symbol to present the Egyptian people as both diverse and unified, and on the pre-revolutionary public discourse about the positive diversity of the Egyptians.

Together, my analyses substantiate that those heady days at Tahrir Square can tell us something about the dreams of a better society harbored by the participants during the 18 days of the Egyptian Revolution in 2011. They tell us, moreover, that these revolutionary imaginaries of the good life can be interpreted as specifically modern.