How did Egyptian feminism develop between the Egyptian Revolution and the Arab Spring?

The full episode transcript is available on our website: https://history.wisc.edu/ask-a-historian/

During the Arab Spring, Egyptian women played particularly prominent roles as activists on Tahrir Square and in the political groups that mobilized to debate the future of the Egypt. How did Egyptian feminism develop in the decades leading up to the Arab Spring?

Professor Aaron Rock-Singer takes us through the 20th- and 21st-century history of Egypt to trace the ways in which the British colonial project, the secular nationalist state, and Islamist revival movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis sought to shape the role of women in Egyptian society. Aaron highlights the contradictions and characteristics of the project of feminism in Egypt’s authoritarian political environment. He also reflects on the possibilities and challenges for activists under the current Sisi regime.

Timestamps:

03:05 Women in the Egyptian Revolution and the Abdel Nasser period

11:06 The British colonial project to create a quiescent population

16:08 The Sadat and Mubarak periods

22:24 Salafism, authenticity debates, and gender segregation

31:52 Comparing developments in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East

36:17 Reflections on the aftermath of the Arab Spring and the Sisi regime

Episode links:

Aaron Rock-Singer is Assistant Professor of History and the University of Wisconsin—Madison. His first book, Practicing Islam in Egypt: Print Media and Islamic Revival, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2019: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/practicing-islam-in-egypt/05564917D380AE6C37E3AECD3D6C7316#fndtn-information

 You can follow Aaron on Twitter @AaronRockSinger.

Our music is Pamgaea by Kevin MacLeod.

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4193-pamgaea

CC BY 4.0 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Please send us your questions for a historian: outreach@history.wisc.edu