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Institutionalized Practices versus a Resurgence of the Democratic Idea: a Challenging Dilemma Faced by the Egyptian Youth
Abstract
Our paper wants to assess the influence of shared ideas on the internal politics of Egypt. We will try to determine how the normalization of corrupt practices has unconsciously led some members of the Egyptian youth to internalize certain perceptions about what the democratic ideal means. More precisely, we will interrogate the concept of political life. If our first scientific purpose is to create conceptual bridges between corrupt practices and youth views on democratic principles, we will also examine how these particular perceptions might have converged to slow down the progress of the Egyptian "Infitah" reform. In depth, we have to specify that our major purpose aims to demonstrate the effect of an evolution of the Egyptian youth's perception of the national democratic praxis. It logically suggests a second research focus in order to clarify the limits of the internalization of such informal rules by the new generation of Egyptians (a new generation that is more connected to the western world than ever before). On one hand, our proposal will demonstrate to what extent social constructs (corruption practices) participated to sustain the power of an authoritarian regime despite the gradual decrease of the Egyptian livelihood. Additionally, this project represents an opportunity to study in more detail the emergence of new youth communities (bloggers, human right activists, student movements) who have rejected the former generations' widely accepted perceptions of the Egyptian political life. By analyzing these collective actions (mostly in the virtual realm but also through offline demonstrations like the 2005 "Kifaya" movement) as an example of a different implementation of political rights, we would like to emphasize the importance of a turning point in the collective consciousness of the current Egyptian youth, and more specifically to understand in what extent these claims may represent a real challenge to the authoritarian survival in Egypt.
Discipline
Political Science
Geographic Area
Egypt
Sub Area
19th-21st Centuries