Research Activities
Research Projects 2025
Polarized and Demobilized: The Fragmentation of Dissent in Egypt
Outline
This research project presents a critical analysis of the complex strategies employed by the Mubarak and Sisi regimes to suppress protest movements and consolidate their power, focusing particularly on the period following Mubarak’s fall in 2011 and the post-2013 coup that ousted President Morsi. While overt state repression has been a key tool for curbing mass mobilization, this study emphasizes the regimes’ use of cooptation and legitimation as equally powerful, though subtler, mechanisms of control. By selectively repressing certain opposition groups and co-opting factions within the protest movements, the research illustrates how the regime effectively disrupted the internal cohesion of these movements. This strategic fragmentation heightened divisions, making opposition groups more susceptible to state repression and undermining their capacity for sustained mobilization. This fragmentation was not a mere byproduct of authoritarian rule but a calculated effort to destabilize opposition forces from within, thus preventing the emergence of unified anti-regime movements. This project aims to uncover the intricate and deliberate tactics used by Egypt’s ruling elite to maintain authoritarian control while simultaneously projecting a facade of legitimacy. In doing so, it seeks to provide a more nuanced understanding of how authoritarian regimes adapt to and manipulate social movements, ultimately weakening their potential for mobilization.
Period
April 2025 - March 2027
Members
| Role | Member |
|---|---|
| [ Organizer ] | Darwisheh, Housam |
*Affiliations are as of April 2025.
Expected Outcome
- Book published by IDE (English)