Mona Abaza

Mona Abaza is professor of sociology at the American University in Cairo. She is a renowned scholar of contemporary Egypt, having written many books including Debates on Islam and Knowledge in Malaysia and Egypt: Shifting Worlds (2002), The Changing Consumer Culture of Modern Egypt (2006), The Cotton Plantation Remembered (2013). She has held visiting positions all over the world in Sweden, Singapore, Germany...

A large number of Egyptians keep on wondering how they are surviving the vertiginous daily violence perpetrated by the regime of the Muslim Brotherhood. This has led many to have second thoughts about the past two years since January 2011. Many seem to be flirting with the idea that a military junta might be more bearable than the present regime of the Muslim Brothers that merely reproduces corrupt Mubarakist practices, but with beards. The designation of...

A large number of Egyptians keep on wondering how they are surviving with the vertiginous daily violence perpetrated by the regime of the Muslim Brotherhood. This has made many give second thoughts to their views of the past two years since January 2011. Many seem to be flirting with the idea that a military junta might be more bearable than the present regime of the Muslim Brothers that merely reproduces corrupt Mubarakist practices, but with beards. The...

A year has elapsed since the January revolution, which indisputably led to drastic transformations in street politics. In this short note, I argue that the revolution did trigger a new public culture that has re-appropriated public spaces, in a fascinating manner but which remains precarious. It is a precarious situation because the entire year of 2011 witnessed a drastic escalation of violence with the military junta’s continuation of Mubarak's...

I happened to be in Cairo when the catalytic demonstration of the 25th of January occurred. I did not participate in the first demonstrations. It has been many years since I had been politically active. I have to confess that the violence and brutality, witnessed in numerous previous demonstrations, were certainly the main reasons that kept me away from the street. From the first day, the police were ruthless with the demonstrators. Friends who were...