Collective Violence, Legitimacy and Governance in Egypt Post 2011: Continuities and ruptures

Ten years after the uprisings that took place in various Arab countries, continuities, ruptures and episodes of collective violence remain an inherit aspect of citizens’ daily lives. In Syria, Yemen and Libya, a civil war displaced and disrupted the lives of millions. In the countries that were considered to have had ‘less disruption’ like Tunisia, violent conflict is only reduced to disparate terrorist attacks. In Egypt, violent conflict is vividly present in various ways involving various political actors including the state. In a context where the concept of state terrorism is seldom considered, it becomes necessary to outline the various contributors to the symbolic and collective violence taking place. How could we analyze the various types of violence taking place in Egypt since 2011 using the historical and contemporary power dynamics among different political actors? In this article, based on years of collecting ethnographic material and fieldwork in Egypt we argue the following: there are different types of violence taking place in Egypt starting 2011, some are embedded in the mode of governance adopted since former president Hosni Mubarak’s era. This violence is a tool to create the possibility of governance or an ability to govern without a legitimacy that surpasses the legitimacy to use arms by some state institutions. The importance of violence and terrorism to the state narrative and governance is summarized in the “together against terrorism,” current president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s 2014 campaign slogan. These types of violence involve civilians, and non-civilians but who are nonetheless all regarded as political actors. 2011 in Egypt, revealed many power dynamics and struggles through symbols and violent confrontations, some of them remain until today. For example, the political power dynamics between the army, and the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) represents only one facet of the violence in Egypt between two political actors who are referred to politically as “non-civilian.” Charles Tilly’s concept of collective violence is relevant in providing an analysis for this conflict given the historical depth of the conflict between the Egyptian army and the MB. Further, the resuming of separatist terrorist attacks targeting the Egyptian Christian minority, since 2014, represents a different type involving different political actors. The idea of state terrorism overlaps at this point with separatist terrorism given that ex-interior minister, Habib el-Adly, played a role in the attacks prior to and until 2011. Some of the attacks that will be analyzed regarding the different types of violence resulted in the predominant use of the word terrorism in the state narrative, the creation of the anti-terrorist laws, and the return to emergency law – that was recently renewed for the 13th time.