cover image The Journey to Tahrir: Revolution, Protest, and Social Change in Egypt, 1999–2011

The Journey to Tahrir: Revolution, Protest, and Social Change in Egypt, 1999–2011

Edited by Jeannie Sowers. Verso (Norton, dist.), $29.95 trade paper (320p) ISBN 978-1-84467-875-4

Though the last chapters of the Arab spring in the region’s most populous country clearly remain to be written, efforts to place the momentous events of January and February 2011 in their proper context are well underway. This compilation of brief essays from notable scholars explores the social, political, and economic circumstances that sparked the Egyptian revolution. All touch on the massive income disparities that have arisen over the past several decades—one essay on the evolution of the fish-farming industry quotes a 78-year-old fisherman as saying: “Now he who suffers, suffers a lot, and he who is well-off is extremely well-off.” Encompassing topics as diverse as the 2009 protests of international activists opposed to the siege of Gaza and government efforts to control the sartorial choices of women, each essay offers insight into a particular facet of life in Egypt, with the openness of the media cropping up frequently. In one fascinating chapter, Joshua Stacher and Samer Shehata explain the workings of the “parliamentary kitchen,” the Muslim Brotherhood think-tank that coordinates the group’s legislative strategy. Whatever the future holds for Egypt, Sowers (University of New Hampshire political scientist and editor of Middle East Report) offers a useful compendium for understanding the roads traveled to this point. (July)