Background
The January 25 Revolution
"الشعب يريد إسقاط النظام = The people want to bring down the regime"
"إرحل يعني إمشي يا إللي مابتافيهيمشي = Leave (in Classical Arabic) means leave (in Egyptian Arabic) in case you don't understand me"
Inspired by the events in Tunisia, Egyptians gathered to protest on January 25, the national holiday Police Day, calling for an end to corruption, injustice, poor economic conditions, and the 30-year-old regime of President Hosni Mubarak. Street demonstrations quickly grew into a national revolutionary movement that in 18 days removed Mubarak and his National Democratic Party (NDP) from power. In the beginning of the uprising, mass demonstrations in Cairo, Alexandria and other cities, and the occupation of Cairo's central Tahrir (Liberation) Square were met with repression and violence by police and supporters of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). But Egyptians broke through the wall of fear and fought back in street battles. On Jan. 27 the government shut down the Internet and mobile service providers complied with government requests to suspend service. Still the uprising continued, and the army made the decision ultimately not to act against the protesters. Mubarak's weak concessions --appointing intelligence Omar Suleiman as vice president on Jan. 29; installing a new cabinet on Jan. 31; conceding that he wouldn't run again for president nor would his son Gamal after he finished his term in Sept. 2011 -- failed to appease the Egyptian people’s demands. On Feb. 11, a day of massive “Friday of Departure” demonstrations, Mubarak was finally forced to resign. The Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) headed by Tantawi took over control of Egypt and later dissolved the legislature and suspended the constitution.
Background, Timeline, Maps - Jan. 25 - Feb. 11, 2011
- Egypt Burning (Al Jazeera English)Through interviews with correspondents on the ground, Al Jazeera tells the story of 18 days when history was made.
- The Battle For Tahrir Square (posted on Storify)Andy Carvin's (NPR) account of the battle on Feb. 2 and 3, 2011 from live-tweets of participants.
E-Publications and Documentaries
- Signs of the Times: the Popular Literature of Tahrir Protest Signs, Graffiti, and Street ArtArteEast open e-publication. Co-curators, Rayya El Zein & Alex Ortiz. April 2011. "This issue takes as its focus the popular literature of the Egyptian Revolution. Drawing on protest signs, graffiti, and street art in Tahrir to read the culture of resistance particular to the Egyptian Revolution, the curators examine how protesters changed the political narrative through the use of images, memorials, and expressions of daily life."
- Jadaliyya جدليةIndependent ezine produced by ASI (Arab Studies Institute). Includes interviews and essays on the Arab Uprisings. English and Arabic.
- The ArabistLaunched in Cairo in November 2003, by Issandr El Amrani. Focuses on Egypt but also follows broader issues of the Middle East.
- Egypt victorious? Popular protest in North Africa and the Middle EastInternational Crisis Group report.
- Drawing the wrong lessons / by Jon B. Alterman."Valentine's Day has captured the hearts of Middle Eastern youth, as well as the minds of shop and hotel owners looking to turn a profit. Heart-shaped balloons and roses line the streets of Cairo and Baghdad; Gulf hotels are awash with Valentine's Day packages"--Center for Strategic and International Studies, Middle East Program, ©2011. PDF Sidebar (page [1])
- The Songs of Tahrir: Music at the heart of the revolutionWeb documentary by Hussein Emara and Priscille Lafitte
Visualizations
"Politics, Popular Culture and the 2011 Egyptian Revolution" is a digital archive documenting the 25 January 2011 uprising and its aftermath through the prism of popular culture. It has been designed for both researchers and students interested in the 2011 Egyptian revolution, as well as contemporary Egypt and the relationship between politics and popular culture more broadly.
Select bibliography (Recent titles)
The Buried: An Archaeology of the Egyptian Revolution by ISBN: 9780525559566Publication Date: 2019-05-07From the acclaimed author of River Town and Oracle Bones, an intimate excavation of life in one of the world's oldest civilizations at a time of convulsive change Drawn by a fascination with Egypt's rich history and culture, Peter Hessler moved with his wife and twin daughters to Cairo in 2011. He wanted to learn Arabic, explore Cairo's neighborhoods, and visit the legendary archaeological digs of Upper Egypt. After his years of covering China for The New Yorker, friends warned him Egypt would be a much quieter place. But not long before he arrived, the Egyptian Arab Spring had begun, and now the country was in chaos. In the midst of the revolution, Hessler often traveled to digs at Amarna and Abydos, where locals live beside the tombs of kings and courtiers, a landscape that they call simply al-Madfuna: "the Buried." He and his wife set out to master Arabic, striking up a friendship with their instructor, a cynical political sophisticate. They also befriended Peter's translator, a gay man struggling to find happiness in Egypt's homophobic culture. A different kind of friendship was formed with the neighborhood garbage collector, an illiterate but highly perceptive man named Sayyid, whose access to the trash of Cairo would be its own kind of archaeological excavation. Hessler also met a family of Chinese small-business owners in the lingerie trade; their view of the country proved a bracing counterpoint to the West's conventional wisdom. Through the lives of these and other ordinary people in a time of tragedy and heartache, and through connections between contemporary Egypt and its ancient past, Hessler creates an astonishing portrait of a country and its people. What emerges is a book of uncompromising intelligence and humanity--the story of a land in which a weak state has collapsed but its underlying society remains in many ways painfully the same. A worthy successor to works like Rebecca West's Black Lamb and Grey Falcon and Bruce Chatwin's The Songlines, The Buried bids fair to be recognized as one of the great books of our time.
Subject Headings (Search Terms in the Library Catalog)
Search the Library Catalog to find books, journals (in print and digital), databases, DVDs, CDs and more in all campus libraries and beyond. The following are examples of Library of Congress Subject Headings used for research topic:
- Egypt - History - Revolution, 2011
- Egypt - Politics and Government - 21st Century
- Protest movements - Egypt
- Democratization - Egypt
- Crises - Egypt - Politics and government - 21st century
- Online social networks - Political aspects - Egypt
- Social networks - Political aspects - Egypt
- Twitter - Political aspects - Egypt
- Revolutions - Arab countries
- Arab countries - History - Arab Spring, 2011
- Arab countries - Politics and government - 21st century
- Protest movements - Arab countries - 21st century
- Revolutions - Arab countries - 21st century
- Government, Resistance to - Arab countries - History - 21st century
- Democratization - Middle East - History - 21st century
Keyword Search Terms & Phrases
You can also start with a general keyword search. The following are suggested terms useful in catalog, database, and web searching.
- January 25 Revolution
- 2011 Egyptian revolution
- Egyptian uprising
- Egyptian protests
- Pro-Democracy Movements Egypt
- Revolution Egypt
- "Arab Spring" Egypt
- Tahrir Square
- Days of Rage Egypt
- #Jan25
- #tahrir
- #SCAF
Web Archives
- Archive-It.org 2011 Egyptian Revolution"The 2011 Egyptian Revolution Web archive provides access websites, blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, YouTube channels, and other sites related to the January 25th Revolution. This collection is maintained by the American University in Cairo Rare Books and Special Collections Library and features Web sites suggested by AUC students, faculty, and staff as well as other contributors to the University on the Square: Documenting Egypt's 21st Century Revolution project."
- Archive-It.org North Africa & the Middle East 2011A Library of Congress web archive in partnership with the Internet Archive. "This collection documents the events in Northern Africa and the Middle East starting in January 2011. Content includes blogs, social media and news sites about Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Sudan and other countries. Countries separated by site groups (scroll down the page to see all of them). Archived content is in Arabic, English, and French."
- Tahrir Documents وثائق التحرير"Tahrir Documents is an ongoing effort to archive and translate activist papers from the 2011 Egyptian uprising and its aftermath. Materials are collected from demonstrations in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and published in complete English translation alongside scans of the original documents. The project is not affiliated with any political organization, Egyptian or otherwise."
- 25 leaks"The individual initiative 25Leaks.com, which also began in March 2011, is an ambitious attempt to document and provide access to materials seized by protesters from the infamous state security headquarters after Mubarak was ousted from office. The site is in Arabic only, and the site’s creators have remained anonymous for their own safety." (Roberta L. Dougherty, http://www.crl.edu/focus/article/7437)
- University on the Square: Documenting Egypt’s 21st Century Revolution"Seeks to promote and preserve the history of the momentous events of early 2011 in Egypt through the eyes of the AUC community for future historians, activists, students and the general public." Includes image gallery.
- Web Archive at AUC"AUC seeks to collect and preserve publicly available websites of long-term research or historical value in accordance with the AUC Libraries General Collection Development Policy, with emphasis on the Center of Excellence for Middle Eastern and Arab Cultures collection policy. Subject area coverage will focus on the political, economical, cultural, social, and historical issues pertinent to Egypt and the Middle East and North Africa regions."
- Egypt Revolution ArchiveThe Arab Democracy Foundation's Arab Revolutions Archive.
- IAm#Jan25Collection of videos and images from the revolution.
- The Egypt Protests - Totally Cool Pix.comCollection of mostly Reuters photos.
"Politics, Popular Culture and the 2011 Egyptian Revolution" is a digital archive documenting the 25 January 2011 uprising and its aftermath through the prism of popular culture. It has been designed for both researchers and students interested in the 2011 Egyptian revolution, as well as contemporary Egypt and the relationship between politics and popular culture more broadly.
Social Media & Networks
- R-Shief ار شيف"A lab that provides data-centric models and tools for research, publications, art, and cultural productions on the Middle East. We provide real-time analysis of opinion about late-breaking issues in the Arab world." Includes twitter data mining tool.
- Egypt Twitter ListPublic Twitter list curated by Alex Goldmark. Follows key activists and journalists in Egypt.
- egypt2011 Twitter listPublic Twitter list curated by NPR.
- egyptprotests Twitter listPublic Twitter list curated by Al Jazeera English. "AJE staff following the January 25 protests in Egypt."
- Egypt Twitter List (New York Times)Public Twitter list curated by the New York Times.
- Revolution Graffiti Facebook page“This page is mostly to gather all revolution graffiti images in one place. In other words archiving the graffiti. By revolution graffiti I mean graffiti created from the start of the revolution till now and later on.”
