Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to better understand how the protesters mobilised, co-ordinated and sustained the protests over the 18 days in the Egyptian protests. Tracing the different stages of the protests and the response of the state the chapter identifies the key actors, their efficacy in using ICTs and the reason for this technological capacity. This section also tests the relevance of resource mobilisation theory in the context of Egypt. The findings build on the current literature by showing that the effectiveness of ICTs not only depends on the past experience of the actors involved but also on the availability of organisations that provide facilities for the movement. The civil society in Egypt, along with political institutions, NGOs and human rights organisations, shaped the way in which ICTs were used in the Egyptian protests.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Adi, A., Gerodimos, R., & Lilleker, D. (2018). ‘Yes we vote’: Civic mobilisation and impulsive engagement on Instagram. Javnost—The Public, 25(3), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/13183222.2018.1464706.
Aouragh, M., & Alexander, A. (2011). The Arab Spring: The Egyptian experience: Sense and nonsense of the Internet revolution. International Journal of Communication, 5, 1344–1358.
Beaumont, P., Shenker, J., & Black, I. (2011, January 28). Egypt protesters defy curfew as tanks roll into Cairo. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jan/28/egypt-protesters-tanks-cairo.
Beinin, J. (2011, February 17). Egypt’s workers rise up. The Nation. Retrieved from http://www.thenation.com/article/egypts-workers-rise/.
Berenskoetter, F. (2012). Parameter of a national biography. European Journal of International Relations, 20(1), 262–288. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354066112445290.
Blomfield, A., & Michaels, A. (2011, February 7). Egypt’s crisis: Hosni Mubarak lost control of state media. The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8309469/Egypt-crisis-Hosni-Mubarak-loses-control-of-state-media.html.
Castells, M. (2012). Networks of outrage and hope: Social movements in the Internet age. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Cole, J. (2014). The new Arabs: How the millennial generation is changing the Middle East. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
Cottle, S. (2011, July). Media and the Arab uprisings of 2011, Research notes. Journalism, 12(5), 647–659. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884911410017.
Della Porta, D. (2013). Can democracy be saved? Participation, deliberation and social movements. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Della Porta, D., & Diani, M. (2006). Social movements: An introduction. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
Della Ratta, D., & Valeriani, A. (2012). Remixing the spring! Connective leadership and read-write practices in the 2011 Arab uprisings. Cyber Orient, 6(1). Retrieved from http://www.cyberorient.net/article.do?articleId=7763.
Dijk, V. T. (1993). Principles of critical discourse analysis. Discourse & Society, 4(2), 249–283. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926593004002006.
Egyptians report poor communication services on Day of Anger. (2011, January 25). Egypt Independent. Retrieved from http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/egyptians-report-poor-communication-services-day-anger.
Egypt’s labor strikes break out across the country; protestors defiant. (2011, September 2). Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/09/egypt-labor-strikes-break_n_820909.html.
Egypt shuts down Al Jazeera bureau. (2011, January 30). Al Jazeera. Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/01/201113085252994161.html.
Egypt speaker ‘plotted battle of the camel’. (2011, July 14). Al Jazeera. Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/07/2011714172156277964.html.
Egypt unrest: Full text of Hosni Mubarak’s speech. (2011, February 10). BBC. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12427091.
El-Ghobashy, M. (2011). The praxis of the Egyptian revolution. Middle East Report 258: People Power, 41. Retrieved from http://www.merip.org/mer/mer258/praxis-egyptian-revolution.
Eltantawy, N., & Wiest, J. (2011). Social media in the Egyptian revolution: Reconsidering resource mobilization theory. International Journal of Communication, 5, 1207–1224.
Eskandar, W. (2015, January 28). The significance of Shaimaa’s death. Daily News Egypt. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2FRrvZk.
Ezzat, A. (2014, September 29). ‘You are being watched!’ Egypt’s mass Internet surveillance. Mada Masr. Retrieved from http://www.madamasr.com/opinion/politics/you-are-being-watched-egypts-mass-internet-surveillance.
Fahim, K., & Kirkpatrick, D. D. (2011a, February 2). Mubarak’s allies and foes clash in Egypt. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://nyti.ms/2L0YOeD.
Fahim, K., & Kirkpatrick, D. D. (2011b, February 9). Labor actions in Egypt boost protests. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/world/middleeast/10egypt.html.
Fahim, K., & El-Naggar, M. (2011, February 8). Emotions of a reluctant hero galvanize protestors. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/09/world/middleeast/09ghonim.html?_r=0.
Freedom House. (2012). Egypt: Freedom of the press 2012 report. Retrieved from https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2012/egypt#.VdXtMrJViko.
Gerbaudo, P. (2012). Tweets and the streets: Social media and contemporary activism. New York, NY: Pluto Press.
Ghonim, W. (2012). Revolution 2.0. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Greene, J. (2005). Whatever it takes: Poor people’s organising, OCAP, and social struggle. Studies in Political Economy, 75, 5–28.
Gunning, J., & Baron, I. Z. (2013). Why occupy a square: People, protests and movements in Egyptian revolution. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Herrera, L. (2014). Revolution in the age of social media. London, UK: Verso.
Hofheinz, A. (2011). The Arab Spring nextopia? Beyond revolution 2.0. International Journal of Communication, 5, 1417–1434.
Hosni Mubarak’s speech: Full text. (2011, February 2). The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/02/president-hosni-mubarak-egypt-speech.
Howard, P., & Hussain, M. (2013). Democracy’s fourth wave? Digital media and the Arab Spring. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Internet service restored in Egypt. (2011, February 2). Al Jazeera. Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/02/201122113055781707.html.
Jenkins, J. C. (1983). Resource mobilisation theory and the study of social movements. Annual Review of Sociology, 9, 527–553.
Journalists attacked and detained in Cairo. (2011, February 3). Independent. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2Htkpu0.
Khamis, S., & Vaughn, K. (2012). Cyberactivism in the Egyptian revolution: How civic engagement and citizen journalism tilted the balance. Arab Media & Society, 14. Retrieved from http://www.arabmediasociety.com/articles/downloads/20120313094800_Khamis_Cyberactivism_updated.pdf.
Khamis, S., Gold, P. B., & Vaughn, K. (2012). Beyond Egypt’s “Facebook revolution” and Syria’s “YouTube uprising”: Comparing political contexts, actors and communication strategies. Arab Media & Society, 15. Retrieved from http://arabmediasociety.com/articles/downloads/20120407120519_Khamis_Gold_Vaughn.pdf.
Kirkpatrick, D. (2011, January 28). Mubarak orders crackdown, with revolt sweeping Egypt. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/world/middleeast/29unrest.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.
Knell, Y. (2011, February 14). Egypt strikes test military regime. BBC. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12460657.
Kuebler, J., & Allagui, I. (2011). The Arab Spring and the role of ICTs. International Journal of Communication, 5, 1435–1442.
Laer, J. V., & Aelst, P. V. (2010). Cyber-protest and civil society: The Internet and action repertoires in social movements. In Y. Jewkes & M. Yar (Eds.), Handbook of Internet crime (pp. 230–254). Cullompton, UK: Willan Publishing.
Levinson, C., & Coker, M. (2011, February 11). The secret rally that sparked an uprising. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704132204576135882356532702.
Lynch, M., Freelon, D., & Sean, A. (2014, January). Syria’s socially mediated civil wars. United States Institute of Peace Report No. 91. Retrieved from http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/PW91-Syrias%20Socially%20Mediated%20Civil%20War.pdf.
McCarthy, J. D., & Zald, M. N. (1977). Resource mobilization and social movements: A partial theory. American Journal of Sociology, 82(6), 1212–1241.
Melucci, A. (1996). Challenging code: Collective action in the information age. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Mikhail. A. (2014, October 6). The obliteration of civil society in Egypt. Open Democracy. Retrieved from https://www.opendemocracy.net/arab-awakening/amira-mikhail/obliteration-of-civil-society-in-egypt.
Miskimmon, A., O’Loughlin, B., & Roselle, L. (2013). Strategic narratives. New York, NY: Routledge.
Munson, Z. (2001). Islamic mobilisation. The Sociological Quarterly, 42(4), 487–510.
Olson, M. (2002). The logic of collective action: Public goods and the theory of groups. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Osman, A., & Samei, M. A. (2012, Spring/Summer). The media and the making of the 2011 Egyptian revolution. Global Media Journal, 2(1), 1–19. Retrieved from http://www.db-thueringen.de/servlets/DerivateServlet/Derivate-25453/GMJ3_Samei_final.pdf.
Papacharissi, Z., & Oliveira, M. (2012). Affective news and networked publics: The rhythms of news storytelling in Egypt. Journal of Communication, 62(2), 266–282. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01630.x.
Protesters flood Egypt streets. (2011, February 2). Al Jazeera. Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/02/20112113115442982.html.
Protests in Egypt-Wednesday. (2011, January 26). The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2011/jan/26/egypt-protests.
Rogin, J. (2011, February 2). White House failing to consent Mubarak to start transition now. Foreign Policy. Retrieved from http://foreignpolicy.com/2011/02/02/white-house-failing-to-convince-mubarak-to-start-transition-now/.
Salem, S. (2013, September 6). The Egyptian military and the 2011 revolution. Jadaliyya. Retrieved from http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/14023/the-egyptian-military-and-the-2011-revolution.
Sandels. A. (2011, April 2). Egypt: Mubarak-controlled state TV expands coverage of protests [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.m/babylonbeyond/2011/02/egypt-state-tv-cover-protests-organizer-.html.
Tilly, C. (2006). Regimes and repertoires. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Tufekci, Z., & Wilson, C. (2011). Social media and the decision to participate in political protest: Observations from Tahrir Square. Journal of Communication, 62(2), 363–379. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01629.x.
Tufekci, Z. (2017). Twitter and tear gas: The power and fragility of networked protest. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Wilson, C., & Dunn, A. (2011). The Arab Spring: Digital media in the Egyptian revolution: Descriptive analysis from the Tahrir data sets. International Journal of Communication, 5, 1248–1272.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Aslan Ozgul, B. (2020). Resource Mobilisation Strategies Retested. In: Leading Protests in the Digital Age. Palgrave Studies in Young People and Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25450-6_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25450-6_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-25449-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-25450-6
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)