Neoliberal Authoritarianism in Egypt
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 11 February 2021 03:20
- Written by editor
Neoliberal Authoritarianism in Egypt
Yanis Iqbal
The whiplash of authoritarianism is being ruthlessly used in Egypt. On January 6, 2021, Ahmed Khalifa, social news editor of Egypt 360 website, was arrested after publishing a series of reports on workers’ legitimate protests. He was falsely charged with joining a terrorist group and spreading fake news, and remains in detention to date. Before his arrest, Khalifa published articles about strikes at the state-owned ElDelta Company for Fertilizers and Chemical Industry.
In 2011, bold protest chants flowed out from Tahrir Square: from “The people want the fall of the regime!” to “Down, down with military rule!” – everything seemed full of new possibilities.... Today, all the dreams envisioned by those chants lie in tatters. Egyptians have gone through an unprecedented and dizzyingly fast-paced trajectory.
The Hosni Mubarak period (1981–2011) bore the stamp of neoliberal authoritarianism; the tumultuous 30-months long transition after his ouster (2011–13) was filled with hopes about a better future; the afterlife of a military coup (2013–present) has turned history full circle, back to an authoritarian age of austerity and pervasive violence.
Continue reading
Follow the Socialist Project on Social Media:
The Bullet is produced by the Socialist Project. Readers are encouraged to distribute widely. Comments, criticisms and suggestions are welcome. Write to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Bullet archive is available at r0
Forward to a friend: this link
r39
powered by phpList
