Women, Youth, and the Egyptian Arab Spring

Throughout history, societies have faced popular protests and revolts that have stemmed from a host of reasons and have attracted the participation of all groups in society regardless of gender, religion, class, and age. While underlying complex and multidimensional causes of such protests and revolts do not affect all, evenly or in the same way, the mechanisms and results of subjugation compel people to collectively fight against and eliminate systems of suppression. In the case of Egypt, the uprising was legitimized by the peaceful participation of a cross-section of Egyptians. Women and youth, however, played an essential role that helps us better understand this particular uprising. Within this resistance context, it is important to assess the impact of women and youth in promoting positive peace (peace understood as not merely the absence of war) in Egypt. Beyond a general overview of the uprising, we can explore the interlinked relationships between the involvement of women and youth in the uprising, the role of social media, and their relative access to new mediums of communication.