Peer-reviewed Papers by Farah Ramzy
Social Movement Studies , 2024
This article examines processes of (de-) politicization among Egyptian student activists in the p... more This article examines processes of (de-) politicization among Egyptian student activists in the post-2011 context. Based on ethnographic observation, interviews and focus groups, I argue that the rapid and successive political changes – with the revolution in 2011 then the coup d’état in 2013 – made the boundaries separating institutional, contentious and prefigurative politics fluid. As student activists debated if their claims and activities were ‘student-related’ or ‘political’, several conceptions of politics and political action coexisted among them and their understanding of politics fluctuated. These evolving conceptions created gaps and contradictions allowing for the negotiation of the meaning of their various activities. The negotiation of politics is a collective pattern but was also reflected in, and reflective of evolving individual subjectivities. As young students lived through the revolution, entered university and joined or left a group, their perceptions of their roles and of the political meaning of their present and past activities changed. The rising repression in 2013/14 shaped the activists’ tactics, as well as their perceived priorities and the meaning of activities, thus amplifying the negotiation of politics.
Middle East Critique, 2022
Based on an extensive ethnographic field study among various groups of student activists, this pa... more Based on an extensive ethnographic field study among various groups of student activists, this paper questions how the memory of historical student protests, namely of 1946 and 1972, is actualized during student mobilizations after the revolution, especially in the post-2013 repressive context. Focusing on contentious repertoires as the incarnation of memory politics, this paper shows how the historical student movement stands for a pool of contentious performances as well as a long standing mnemonic frame of the 'role' students should play in society. It, then, suggests that this past is read through the lens of the ongoing revolution of 2011, and later of the impeding repression. In the same time, the past also weighs in the process of understanding, dealing with and defining one's place in the present moment whether in terms of actors' strategies, priorities, ambitions or survival tactics in times of repression. Finally, this paper concludes with a preliminary reflection on the potential channels transferring the memory of the student movement: namely, the revolutionary moment, the pre-revolutionary contentious mobilizations, the 'national historiography' and Social Media.
Confluences Méditerranée, 2020
This paper explores how the post-2013 regime in Egypt uses the category “youth” as a basis for a ... more This paper explores how the post-2013 regime in Egypt uses the category “youth” as a basis for a series of programs, conferences and organizations claiming to speak to and in the name of youth. Based on promotional material, media coverage, official communication, in addition to a systematic study of student organizations in Cairo University between 2011and 2017, this paper considers the regime’s youth policy as an entry point to the process of authoritarian reconfiguration in Egypt. The aim is to establish elements of resemblance of the instruments and discourses towards youth between the current regime and its predecessor while demonstrating how such tools are adapted in a new configuration. We suggest on one hand, that the regime’s discourses and policies towards youth reflect the extent to which it is haunted by the revolution of 2011, and on the other, the policy reveals the variety of actors within the regime and the new configuration in power.
Pôle Sud, 2020
Au cours du XXe siècle en Égypte, les étudiants du supérieur émergent comme avant-garde contestat... more Au cours du XXe siècle en Égypte, les étudiants du supérieur émergent comme avant-garde contestataire. L’État développe alors une « boîte à outils » spécifique pour contrôler leurs activités politiques. Cet article retrace la récurrence des pratiques de répression des mobilisations étudiantes, des séquences d’interaction et des acteurs pour mettre en avant la construction d’un répertoire. Cette étude analyse ensuite la suspension de la répression avec la révolution 2011, puis sa reprise avec le coup d’État de 2013, rompant avec les pratiques historiques et culminant avec le choix d’introduire une entreprise de sécurité privée dans les campus universitaires en 2014. Cette stratégie est révélatrice de l’expansion du dispositif sécuritaire et de sa diversification par la privatisation, et s’inscrit dans une reconfiguration plus générale de l’autoritarisme avec le nouveau régime
Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork on contentious student activism in post-2011 Egypt, this paper ... more Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork on contentious student activism in post-2011 Egypt, this paper contrasts the manifestations of the “feeling” of marginality with reference to Cairo’s centrality between Alexandrian student activists and their other non-Cairene counterparts. Approaching marginality as a perceived problem, this study nuances the image of the governorates as equally disadvantaged and similarly excluded from the mainstream of power as Cairo supposedly is. Moreover, by looking at the activists’ strategies for dealing with the “problem” of Cairo’s centrality, this paper demonstrates that while Alexandrians employ strategies that assert their autonomy and portray them as a competing site of power, other non-Cairene activists feel the need to resort to various tactics to ensure the visibility and validation of their collective action. These tactics (and the lack thereof among Alexandrians) reveal that dependency and local identity are not markers of a condition of marginality as much as strategies that actors come up with to deal with their “problem” of marginality versus a perceived center
Politique Africaine, 2017
Cet article construit une histoire parallèle de la contestation étudiante égyptienne après 2013. ... more Cet article construit une histoire parallèle de la contestation étudiante égyptienne après 2013. Outre la remise en question de la lecture dominante, selon laquelle les universités ne seraient que le dernier « champ de bataille » dans la guerre entre les Frères musulmans (FM) et le régime d’Al-Sissi, il examine les ressorts de l’action de groupes étudiants qui sont en concurrence avec les FM tout en s’opposant aux pratiques répressives du régime. L’historicité du mouvement étudiant et le renouveau de ses mobilisations après le soulèvement du 25 janvier 2011 permettent de saisir le processus de constitution de ce « milieu étudiant contestataire non-FM » afin de comprendre, par la suite, comment ces acteurs construisent des possibilités d’action collective à partir des effets induits par la répression de leurs rivaux.
Book reviews by Farah Ramzy
Recension d'ouvrages Lecture croisée: Linda Herrera, Educating Egypt. Civic Values and Ideological Struggles, Le Caire, The American University in Cairo Press, 2022, 256p. Hania Sobhy, Schooling the Nation. Education and Everyday Politics in Egypt, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2023, 300p. Mondes arabes, 2024
Other by Farah Ramzy
Egypte/Monde arabe, 2018
This issue is devoted to Egypt’s second largest city, Alexandria, which, despite its historical a... more This issue is devoted to Egypt’s second largest city, Alexandria, which, despite its historical and cultural fame - or because of it - suffers from a serious lack of knowledge. Indeed, apart from the myths and preconceptions that dominate narratives of this Mediterranean city, we know very little about its contemporary and/or everyday dynamics. Bringing together a group of specialists across many disciplines (anthropology, ethnomusicology, history, political science, sociology), this issue is based on empirical studies treating Alexandria in a renewed way, promoting narratives from within instead of the usual images found in the literature.
Débat sur France Culture
Avec Emmanuel Laurentin, Myriam Catusse, Hasni Abidi et Farah Ramzy
1... more Débat sur France Culture
Avec Emmanuel Laurentin, Myriam Catusse, Hasni Abidi et Farah Ramzy
10 ans après la chute du président tunisien Ben Ali qui marque la première "victoire" des Printemps arabes, les avancées semblent bien maigres et l'espoir suscité par ces soulèvements populaires est retombé. La contestation sociale est pourtant toujours là. La révolution est-elle toujours en cours ?
Book chapters by Farah Ramzy
Citizenship negotiation: in Dorio, J. N., Abdou, E. D., & Moheyeldine, N. (2018). The Struggle for Citizenship Education in Egypt:(Re) Imagining Subjects and Citizens. Routledge., 2018
Papers by Farah Ramzy
Mondes arabes, Jun 13, 2024
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Peer-reviewed Papers by Farah Ramzy
Book reviews by Farah Ramzy
Other by Farah Ramzy
Avec Emmanuel Laurentin, Myriam Catusse, Hasni Abidi et Farah Ramzy
10 ans après la chute du président tunisien Ben Ali qui marque la première "victoire" des Printemps arabes, les avancées semblent bien maigres et l'espoir suscité par ces soulèvements populaires est retombé. La contestation sociale est pourtant toujours là. La révolution est-elle toujours en cours ?
Book chapters by Farah Ramzy
Papers by Farah Ramzy
Avec Emmanuel Laurentin, Myriam Catusse, Hasni Abidi et Farah Ramzy
10 ans après la chute du président tunisien Ben Ali qui marque la première "victoire" des Printemps arabes, les avancées semblent bien maigres et l'espoir suscité par ces soulèvements populaires est retombé. La contestation sociale est pourtant toujours là. La révolution est-elle toujours en cours ?