Renowned anthropologist Jessica Winegar examined the aesthetics of grassroots youth initiatives in Egypt, tracing their connections to both the 2011 uprisings and subsequent reactionary movements around the world at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South (#IAS_NUQ)’s latest colloquium, The Paradox of Promoting Social Change in Egypt: Conservative Aesthetics on the Eve of the 2011 Uprising.
In her talk, attended by Northwestern Qatar faculty, students, and staff, Winegar, professor of anthropology and Middle East and North African studies at Northwestern University, examined how, across various youth-led arts and activist initiatives, different aesthetic forms worked, paradoxically, to legitimize regime power and delegitimize revolutionary movements with the 2011 Egyptian uprisings as a case study.
Winegar began her talk by presenting findings from ethnographic research in Egypt in the lead up to and during the 2011 uprisings. Challenging mainstream portrayals of the Arab Spring, she noted: “Media and scholarly portrayals of the 2011 uprisings often portray them as ‘youth revolutions,’ and it gives the impression that all youth supported it, and this was hardly the case,” adding: “Ignoring youth who were suspects of the uprisings actually impedes our understanding of why the revolution eventually did not achieve its aims.”
She explained how millions of young Egyptians ended up supporting the status quo that they had earlier rejected during the 2011 revolution. “These youth were lower middle classes and, like many of the young, were part of the social change,’ she noted. “They just did so from the worldview that [prioritized] respect for authority in all its forms and bourgeois values and aspirations, and these were all bound up in a mixture of state-influenced nationalism and by particular interpretations of Islam.”
Drawing on stories from a group of young Egyptians who did not fully support the revolution, Winegar explained how this worldview, embodied in their aesthetic practices and judgment, shaped members’ opposition towards the uprisings. “These individuals developed strategies to work within the structures of the system that made sense to them,” said Winegar. These structures, she added, often translated into aesthetics of propriety, productivity, and self-responsibility that were shaped in Egypt by bourgeois and nationalist ideals and by particular interpretations of Islam.
In her talk, attended by Northwestern Qatar faculty, students, and staff, Winegar, professor of anthropology and Middle East and North African studies at Northwestern University, examined how, across various youth-led arts and activist initiatives, different aesthetic forms worked, paradoxically, to legitimize regime power and delegitimize revolutionary movements with the 2011 Egyptian uprisings as a case study.
Winegar began her talk by presenting findings from ethnographic research in Egypt in the lead up to and during the 2011 uprisings. Challenging mainstream portrayals of the Arab Spring, she noted: “Media and scholarly portrayals of the 2011 uprisings often portray them as ‘youth revolutions,’ and it gives the impression that all youth supported it, and this was hardly the case,” adding: “Ignoring youth who were suspects of the uprisings actually impedes our understanding of why the revolution eventually did not achieve its aims.”
She explained how millions of young Egyptians ended up supporting the status quo that they had earlier rejected during the 2011 revolution. “These youth were lower middle classes and, like many of the young, were part of the social change,’ she noted. “They just did so from the worldview that [prioritized] respect for authority in all its forms and bourgeois values and aspirations, and these were all bound up in a mixture of state-influenced nationalism and by particular interpretations of Islam.”
Drawing on stories from a group of young Egyptians who did not fully support the revolution, Winegar explained how this worldview, embodied in their aesthetic practices and judgment, shaped members’ opposition towards the uprisings. “These individuals developed strategies to work within the structures of the system that made sense to them,” said Winegar. These structures, she added, often translated into aesthetics of propriety, productivity, and self-responsibility that were shaped in Egypt by bourgeois and nationalist ideals and by particular interpretations of Islam.
“Understanding these youth provides insight into the many reflections that people had which reflected discontent with the revolutionary process at a broader social level”
- Jessica Winegar, professor of anthropology and Middle East and North African studies at Northwestern University
In highlighting how the embodied sentiments, views, and actions of these youth impacted the progress of the revolution in Egypt, Winegar said, “those wishing to transform society did so unwillingly in ways that were often at odds with the revolutionary ideals of 2011.” She said that while the revolutionary goals that these youth activists advocated for included human dignity and social justice, especially in the economic realm, some of their aesthetic practices and resulting moral judgments went against those revolutionary goals.
Winegar went on to point out the dangers of examining the motives of these youth solely through the lens of individual agency. This, she noted, would ignore their own struggles to make a life under a system in which they were themselves oppressed. Instead, she recommended looking at the structures of power in which they operate while relating their experiences to anti-revolutionary movements across the world. “Understanding these youth provides insight into the many reflections that people had which reflected discontent with the revolutionary process at a broader social level.”
Jessica Winegar is the author of numerous books, book chapters, and articles on culture and politics in the Middle East and the United States. Her talk was part of the #IAS_NUQ Colloquium series.
The Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South at Northwestern University in Qatar (#IAS_NUQ) produces and promotes evidence-based storytelling focused on the histories, cultures, societies, and media of the Global South. The upcoming #IAS_NUQ talk will feature Johns Hopkins Professor Sarah E. Parkinson talking about public safety and the World Cup in Qatar in its upcoming community event on March 29. For more information, click here.
Winegar went on to point out the dangers of examining the motives of these youth solely through the lens of individual agency. This, she noted, would ignore their own struggles to make a life under a system in which they were themselves oppressed. Instead, she recommended looking at the structures of power in which they operate while relating their experiences to anti-revolutionary movements across the world. “Understanding these youth provides insight into the many reflections that people had which reflected discontent with the revolutionary process at a broader social level.”
Jessica Winegar is the author of numerous books, book chapters, and articles on culture and politics in the Middle East and the United States. Her talk was part of the #IAS_NUQ Colloquium series.
The Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South at Northwestern University in Qatar (#IAS_NUQ) produces and promotes evidence-based storytelling focused on the histories, cultures, societies, and media of the Global South. The upcoming #IAS_NUQ talk will feature Johns Hopkins Professor Sarah E. Parkinson talking about public safety and the World Cup in Qatar in its upcoming community event on March 29. For more information, click here.
