Description
Book SynopsisNo chapter in Egypt's contemporary history has been more turbulent and unpredictable than the past three years. In a very short period of time, the Arab world's most populous country has seen a transition from rule by an iron-fisted dictatorship to a populist uprising to military omnipotence to Islamist electoral victory to constitutional turmoil to societal polarization. Egypt's iconic revolution has been neither victorious nor defeated. Egypt in Flux is a collection of essays on the political, social, economic, and cultural dimensions of change in the country's ongoing revolutionary current. While written over a span of several years, the essays are timeless in the historical context they provide and their ability to chart the country's trajectory in the period ahead. From the conditions that precipitated the uprising and the eruption of national dissent to the derailing of the revolution, the author reflects on the pressing topics of the day while being mindful of the counterrevolutionary movements and the continuation of the unending uprising. From discussions about the illusion of fair and free elections, social inequities, and labor disparities to examinations of religion, sports, literature, and sexuality, the essays in this valuable and intellectually stimulating volume chart both the broad lines and the nuances of an unfinished revolution.
Table of ContentsIntroduction
Section 1: The End Days
Geddo and Messianic Football
On Marina and Chavez
The Simulacra of Religious Intolerance
Never Say No to the Panda
Learning to Mourn with the Poles
Best in Show
The Hegemony of Sharks
The End of Illegitimacy
Section 2: Ablaze the Body Politic
Reclaiming Silence in Egypt
Coptic Exodus from Disneyland
Ablaze the Body Politic
The Gravity of Pharaohs
Dared to Defy
Section 3: Revolution Interrupted
On Constitutional Reform
Liberating the Media
The Axe-Bearers
Revolutionary Fatigues
The Three-Horned Bull
Year of the Ostrich
Morsy’s Debts
Tragedy and Farce
Lemons and Raisins
Section 4: Ad Infinitum
The Lost Tribe
Who’s Your Daddy?
After Maspero
The Conscientious Objectors
Morsy’s Debts
A Seven A
Media Forms
Patron Saints
New Face
Of Men and Hymen
The State of Anarchy
Epilogue
