Abstract
This paper maps the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s (MB) internal divisions post-2013. We offer a screenshot of the contemporary currents of thought shaping the movement, and explore their significance for the MB as it attempts to exit the current state of stagnation. We assess how the members’ experiences with political participation (2011-2013), the removal from power (2013) and the fall of the MB into a new state of illegality and repression (2014-2018) affects their worldviews and position vis-a-vis the historical organisation. We argue that the divisions that permeate the MB membership have a profound identity connotation, which challenges the MB top-down approach towards the movement, while proposing a bottom-up call for change.
We focus on individual members to gain an insight into the current trajectories of the movement. We rely on the analysis of 60 semi-structured interviews conducted between 2013 and 2018 with both males and female MB participants across the organisational spectrum, and currently residing in Egypt, Turkey and the UK. We employ grounded theory methodology to identify the main points of contention shaping members’ divisions, and to trace the emergence of currents of thought within the movement. The two main factors against which we identify those currents are: how the members propose to move forward, and where they position themselves vis-à-vis the historical MB organizational structure. We adopt a comparative methodology that accounts for three important elements that are often overlooked in the literature: the study of the MB form an individual perspective, the gender dimension and the transnational element.
Overall, we find that the main point of contention driving divisions within the movement is members’ desire for change against the apparent immobility of the historical MB leadership. This desire clearly manifests across other issues of contention, such as the MB’s approach to repression, organizational re-building and how to bridge the gap between ideology and practice. Most importantly, our study reveals that a significant portion of members are no longer willing to subscribe to the movement’s imposed top-down identity, and attempt to imbue the organisation with diverse values and independent thinking. Mapping these currents of thoughts has become necessary to gain an insight into the ongoing and future trajectories of the movement.
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