The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood is known for having a strong and cohesive organization, functional to its ability to survive recurring waves of state repression. Women also are pivotal to its organization and survival. In times of political stability, women are those members sustaining the movement’s social, religious and political activities. In times of repression, as observed after 2013, women played a key role as street mobilizers, they took care of the Brotherhood prisoners and their families, spread awareness about the movement through human rights and international organizations, led hunger strikes campaigns in support of prisoners, and provided emotional and material assistance to the victims of regime violence. Today, women are the ones taking care of the upbringing of Brotherhood’s children, thus guaranteeing the biological and ideological survival of the movement by nurturing new generations of committed Brotherhood activists. Based on interviews with women members of the Brotherhood carried out in Egypt between 2013 and 2019, this article argues that women’s gender politics within the sphere of the family undermines the movement’s ability to re-emerge from the current wave of repression on the basis of old values and principles. In particular, the article assesses how the circumstances of repression led women to reconsider patriarchal gender relations within the family sphere, and shows how this women’s activism challenges the identity and organizational structure over which the Brotherhood has historically rested. The article demonstrates so by analyzing women’s own articulations concerning their role within the family and marriage relationships in the aftermath of 2013. It uses “love” as an analytical lens, demonstrating that women’s demand for love within the realm of marriage speaks directly to their desire to shift the direction of loyalty and commitment from the Brotherhood to women, rather than from the women to the Brotherhood. Indeed, consistent with other contributions to this panel, the article reveals women’s desire to reform the Brotherhood along greater pluralist values and identities. Thus, the article suggests that Brotherhood scholarship should pay greater attention to women to understand current dynamics of continuity and change of the movement post-2013.

This article traces the clash between individual agency and organizational structures characterising the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the aftermath of the 2013 coup, identifying these tensions as a main point of contention driving its internal restructuring. Since Mohammed Morsi’s violent toppling the Brotherhood experienced a process of gradual fragmentation, with tensions developing between different approaches to repression. To provide a clearer picture of the internal challenges facing the Brotherhood today, this article traces the clash between agency and structure within the organization – understood as the emergence of members’ own subjectivities and initiatives vis-a-vis the movement’s organizational structures and collective identity – from 2011 to the post-2013 context . It argues that these tensions are at the core of the organization’s fragmentation in the aftermath of the 2013 coup and that they pre-date the new dimension of exile, as they are embedded in the very principles over which the Brotherhood historically rests. The article aligns with an emerging trend in the literature on the Brotherhood that places the attention on how members themselves engage with identity and ideological questions, develop strategies to move forward, and on their role in driving processes of change within the movement. Therefore, it showcases primary data obtained through over 30 semi-structured interviews conducted with former and current Brotherhood members from across the organizational spectrum, and through several rounds of ethnographic fieldwork that took place in Turkey and the UK between 2013 and 2019. In particular, this article focuses on the analysis of the members’ individual experiences, aiming to go beyond the examination of the Brotherhood as a monolithic movement. By doing so, the article argues for the adoption of a new lens through which to approach the study of the organization in the post 2013 context, taking into accounts its changed circumstances and focusing on the relationship between the movement and its members to make sense of its current trajectories and transformation. Overall, it shows that the ongoing clash between individual agency and organizational structures is directly challenging the Brotherhood’s core principles, initiating a process of internal change that is likely to drastically reshape the aim and scope of the movement going forward.

This paper explores the disengagement from Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood. Since Egypt’s January 2011 uprising, several members and figures have abandoned the Muslim Brotherhood and either joined other movements and parties, or established their owns. Similarly, after the coup of 2013, the Muslim Brotherhood witnessed significant divisions and splits which led several members to leave the movement and abandon its ideology. This paper examines under which circumstances members break away from the Muslim Brotherhood and how they make sense of their “ex” identity. Several scholarly works have focused on joining the Muslim Brotherhood, adopting its ideology, and engaging in its political and social activities. However, leaving the Brotherhood and abandoning its ideology has gained little attention from scholars and remains understudied phenomenon. We argue that during critical junctures, members tend to rethink their affiliation and role within social movements, question their ideology, and seek new meanings and identity. Based on rich and original material, along with interviews conducted with ex-members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Turkey, the UK, Qatar and Egypt, this paper seeks to understand how individuals leave the Muslim Brotherhood and give meanings to their disengagement. Offering a processual and discursive perspective on these meanings, the paper found that becoming an ex is an interaction between three main levels: ‘Micro’ psychological and emotional factors, ‘meso’ organizational and ideological factors, and ‘macro’ political developments linked to the specific case of the Muslim Brotherhood and Egypt after the Arab Spring.