The openMovements series invites leading social scientists to share their research results and perspectives on contemporary social struggles.
Celebrating in Tahrir Square after re-election of President al-Sisi for a second four-year term, April 2,2018. NurPhoto/Press Association. All rights reserved.
Egypt has been undergoing a tumultuous transformation process triggered by the 2011 uprisings. This process witnessed the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate Mohammed Morsi become Egypt’s first elected civilian president in 2012, only to be ousted a year later by the military. This paved the way for Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to become president in 2014, whose repression has arguably surpassed that experienced under Mubarak. Media outlets are tightly controlled, critical journalists and activists are prosecuted, and Egyptian civil society is repressed. Ominously, al-Sisi has recently and overwhelmingly secured a second presidential term under conditions described as hardly free, with candidates forced to drop out and others detained by the security forces.
