Revolutionary anxieties: Defending privilege in the wake of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution

Revolutionary anxieties illuminates a largely overlooked dimension of the 2011 Egyptian revolution: the fears and uncertainties of Cairo's liberal elite, socialites and cultural actors who opposed the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood. The book offers fresh insight into the revolution's failure by examining the perspectives of those invested in preserving the status quo. Engaging with postcolonial theory and analysing elite Cairo through the lenses of gender and race, it draws on over two years of ethnographic research in spaces such as the Cairo Opera House, an Egyptian–European film festival and an exclusive sporting club. It shows how members of Egypt's liberal upper class asserted their privilege at a moment when class hierarchies were challenged, revealing the depth of counter-revolutionary sentiment among the city's affluent elite and offering a rarely told story of the Arab Spring.

About the Author

Liina Mustonen is a researcher at the Centre for Research on Ethnic Relations and Nationalism (CEREN), University of Helsinki