Tired of economic and social abuse, Mohamed Bouazizi ignites himself. Such action, along with similar grievances, prompted the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia. With technological mobility, uprisings then erupted in Lybia, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, and Bahrain. Soon, Arab Spring was formed and caught global attention. As a result, some autocratic leaders stepped down or were overthrown by militaries. Additionally, new systems such as free elections were established. Human rights were about to be achieved. Over time, however, the military and other political figures prolonged the legacy of corrupted governance that hinder individual liberties. Although the Arab Spring was meant to achieve human rights, it left the Arab world deprived of the necessities to have a quality life, suppressed by authoritarian rule, and divided by unorganized motives.

Various factors made states in the Arab world vulnerable to grievances, which, through human action, led to the formation of Arab Spring. The first factor is neoliberalism, which is an open market free from government intervention. Though neoliberalism supports individual liberties, it allows monopolism that harms middle-class welfare. Common tools of monopolism used in Arab states were privatization and subsidy replacements. During Arab uprisings, protesters have called out the upper classes, specifically autocratic loyalists and Muslim clerics that solely benefited from neoliberalism. Not only did citizens protest in the language of economic rights, but they also protested in the language of individual rights, which is the second factor that made states in the Arab world vulnerable to popular anger. The Human Rights Revolution is the transformation of human rights beliefs. Before the 1970s, human rights referred to collective rights, economic rights, and individual rights. Afterward, democratic civilizations emphasized individual rights. Because of the lack of human rights due to elements like neoliberalism, protestors revolted in pursuit of pro-democracy governments that would provide a better quality of life. The third factor that made states in the Arab world vulnerable to grievances is government brittleness. Non-Arab governments have faced similar opposition from public uprisings; however, they were never overthrown. Instead, certain parties and politicians received blame for deterring civil liberties. Thus, they lost public support and stepped down from office through checks and balances. Because there were no pure representatives nor checks and balances in the Arab world, protestors decided to represent themselves during the uprisings.

The next factor that made states in the Arab world vulnerable to grievances is demography. Sixty percent of the Arab population was under the age of 30 around 2011. Additionally, this demographic made up the bulk of unemployment. Because young Arab residents dominated technology, they were able to mobilize unemployment grievances and other grievances, thus expanding revolts throughout the Middle East. The last factor is the global rise in food prices. Also around 2011, the price of wheat more than doubled. Such a rise was more detrimental to the Arab world, which was more dependent on this subsistence than any other region. Furthermore, prices began to magnify in the Middle East. The portion of household spending went as high as 63%. The US’s 7% encompassed household earnings, as well as entertainment. Such disparity would not have happened if Arab governments were more responsive and mindful of the disadvantages of neoliberalism. Because of the rise in food prices and governments’ unresponsiveness, grievances were formed – some of which influenced Mohamed Bouazizi, a fruit vendor, to ignite himself.

These factors that made states in the Arab world vulnerable to popular anger were displayed in Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s You Have Not Yet Been Defeated: Selected Works, 2011-2021.

Also displayed in this work were various themes. One theme is the injustice of police punishment. In retaliation to the Egyptian Revolution, the police force fabricated arrests and used media to publically humiliate protestors like Alaa Abd el-Fattah. If anyone objected to the irrationality of arrests, the police would beat them and hold witnesses at gunpoint to prevent intervention. Protestors were then held in prison for an unnecessarily long amount of time due to the intentionally slow legal procedures. Furthermore, the police used more weaponry against protestors to contain the revolt. Through the injustice of police punishment, Alaa Abd el-Fattah divulges how autocratic regimes use repressive measures to burden uprisings and keep power. Because of repressive measures, autocratic regimes prolonged the legacy of bad governance, depriving protesters of human rights.

Another theme, which the police also took part in, is narratives. Through propaganda, the Egyptian government-induced fear among citizens, preventing them to carry out future protest efforts. Not only did it induce fear, but it also induced sympathy by victimizing itself in the uprising. From victimization, citizens questioned the integrity of the Egyptian Revolution and human rights. Furthermore, narratives prompted polarization where people were left to choose between military triumphalism and an ignored, illogical insistence on absolute regime change favoring a sectarian form of Islam. From the narrative’s polarization, people were divided and driven away from the main focus of the revolution. It is safe to infer that Alaa Abd el-Fattah shows how narratives with the power of social cohesion have the same power of dissolution, making protestors vulnerable to autocratic preeminence.

Another theme in You Have Not Yet Been Defeated: Selected Works, 2011-2021 is school institutions. Similar to other revolutions in the Middle East, the Egyptian Revolution was dominated by the youth and young adults. In retaliation, the anti-riot police force infiltrated universities like Al-Azhar University. During their preoccupation, students were killed in their dorms or were taken to prisons. As shown by Alaa Abd el-Fattah, the targeting of schools was made to overpower the young, who served as the driving force of the Egyptian Revolution, as well as the Arab Spring. By containing the major component of the international movement, autocratic governments were able to maintain control.

Not only did the Arab governments maintain revolutions by targeting schools, but they also maintained revolutions through nationalism. Nationalism shaped the Egyptian state and the technocrat. Thus, it preserved the status quo of autocracy. Because protestors were challenging the status quo of the Egyptian government, the government used nationalism to maintain its rule through efforts fitting authoritarianism. As shown in You Have Not Yet Been Defeated: Selected Works, 2011-2021 nationalism has the advantage of supporting public interests. Because Egyptian citizens failed to exchange distinct interests for a better society, the autocratic disadvantages of nationalism were magnified by the regime to keep power.

The last, more general theme in You Have Not Yet Been Defeated: Selected Works, 2011-2021 is social division. During the Egyptian Revolution, protestors were not able to achieve full human rights because of diverse intentions. For instance, the Tahir Square protested based on arrogance, the Holy War Square protested for jihad, the Rabba Square protested for utopia and homogeny, and the Mandate Square protested with fundamentalist views stating that the Egyptian government never commits errors. As mentioned before, no one came together to resolve these conflicting motives and manifest them into decisions for the betterment of the Egyptian future. Thus, the Egyptian Revolution was short-lived and fallen to authoritarianism. Overall, as shown by Alaa Abd el-Fattah, the division of people within a revolting movement leads to their own defeat.

The injustice of police punishment, narratives, the targeting of schools, nationalism, and social division – all point to Arab governments prevailing over protest efforts, which portrays irony to the title of Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s work. Not only was protest defeat shown by these five themes, but it was also shown by the deep state, which is an old order that was reserved during uprisings. For instance, the Ennhada and the Muslim brotherhood joined forces with remnants of the old regime and eventually continued Mubarak’s autocratic rule in Egypt. Along with the deep state, the durability of Arab governments led to protest defeat. The governments in Syria and Bahrain, for example, maintained cohesion against uprisings by exploiting ties of a kinship sect to build an independent group and purposefully avoiding the creation of strong institutions. Such actions allowed the governments to put internal groups against each other, thus weakening protest efforts. Overall, through government actions and the themes displayed in You Have Not Yet Been Defeated: Selected Works, 2011-2021, protestors were defeated. Because they reveal irony towards the title of Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s work, it is safe to conclude that Alaa Abd el-Fattah does not believe it.

 Although Arab Spring was meant to achieve human rights, it left the Arab world deprived of the necessities to have a quality life, suppressed by authoritarian rule, and divided by unorganized motives. Thus, autocratic superiority prevailed, and its legacy of bad governance was prolonged. Furthermore, a new legacy was formed as a result of Arab uprisings: extremism. Various narratives, Arab governments’ repressive tactics, and the public’s lack of assembling diverse views magnified nativism, utopianism, and anarchism. As a consequence, new movements were formed and eventually manifested into organizations, such as ISIS and Al-Queda – both of which exacerbate the lack of human rights. Overall, Arab Spring, a revolution that had such promise for individual prosperity, was reversed into a civil poverty that persists today.

Damilare Oyebobola is a second-year undergraduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is majoring in International Development Studies and Minoring in Environmental Systems and Societies. Her main areas of focus are policy research, human rights, sociology, and community service.

References

Abd el-Fattah, Alaa (2021). You Have Not Yet Been Defeated: Selected Works, 2011-2021.

Gelvin, James (2018). New Middle East. University of California Los Angeles.