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The end of the beginning: The failure of April 6th and the future of electronic activism in Egypt

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[1]Jay, Paul. “The Rise of Facebook Activism.” CBC News. September 9, 2008. http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/09/05/f-online-protest.html

[2]Boms, Nil. “Facebook in the Middle East.” The Washington Post, June 2, 2008. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jun/26/facebook-in-the-middle-east/

[3]Fairweather, Jack. “Egypt's Facebook Revolution.” Islam's Advance. May 13, 2008. http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/05/egypts_facebook_revolution.html

[4] Web 2.0 refers to internet applications that emphasize collaboration, sharing, and linking among users. Examples include the auction site eBay, the social networking site Facebook, a service that allows users to share links – del.ici.ous, and the photo-sharing site Flickr.

[5] Kefaya literally means “Enough” in Egyptian Arabic; the organization took shape in 2004, dedicated to ending the authoritarian system of Hosni Mubarak. For more information, see Shorbaghy, Manar. “The Egyptian Movement For Change – Kefaya: Redefining Politics in Egypt.” Public Culture 19/1 (2007): 175-196 and El-Mahdi, Rabab, “Enough: Egypt’s Quest for Democracy.” Comparative Political Studies 42/8 (2009): 1011-1039.

[6]Al Khamissi, Khaled. Taxi. Translated by Jonathan Wright. Wiltshire, UK: Aflame Books, 2008. Pp. 24-25.

[7]Interview with Hossam El-Hamalawy, Cairo, Egypt, May 27, 2009.

[8] “What to make of the ‘general strike’. The Arabist. April 7th, 2008. http://arabist.net/archives/2008/04/07/what-to-make-of-the-general-strike/

[9]Arab Network For Human Rights Information. “Istihdaf al-mudawineen al-masriyeen: arad al-mustamir.”  http://www.katib.org/node/7888

[10] The Infitah refers to the economic opening and restructuring first inaugurated by President Anwar Sadat, which has gained momentum under the leadership of President Hosni Mubarak.

[11] “ of April 6th…again!” Rantings of a Sandmonkey. April 6th 4th, 2009. http://www.sandmonkey.org/2009/04/04/-of-April 6thagain/

[12] El-Hamalawy, Hossam. “Revolt in Mahalla.” International Socialist Review 59 (May-June 2008). http://www.isreview.org/issues/59/rep-mahalla.shtml

[13] Pripstein-Posusney, Marsha. Labor and the State in Egypt: Workers, Unions and Economic Restructuring.

[14] Abdelhamid, Doha. “Mind the Gap.” Al-Ahram Weekly. 14-20 May 2009.

[15] Carr, Sarah. “Doctors’ Group Skeptical of Wage Increase Promised By Government.” Daily News Egypt. July 1, 2008.

[16]Shirky, Clay. Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations.

[17] Shirky, Clay. Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations. New York, NY: The Penguin Press, 2008. p. 221.

[18] “A Joint Statement by Ahmed Maher and Diaa Elsawy on the April 6 youth movement and the stand for foreign involvement.” Islamonline. Discussion forum. May 28, 2009. http://www.islamonline.net/discussione/thread.jspa?messageID=176658

[19]Interviews with Ahmed Abdel Fattah, Cairo, Egypt, June 14, 2009, and Mohamed El-Gohary, Cairo, Egypt, June 13, 2009.

[20]“6 April 2009, General Strike in Egypt.” 6 April Movement. Saturday, April 4, 2009. http://6aprilmove.blogspot.com/2009/04/6-april-2009-general-strike-in-egypt.html

[21] Zuckerman, Ethan. “Prost and Cons of Facebook Activism.” ...My Heart's in Accra. February 8, 2008. http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2008/02/08/pros-and-cons-of-facebook-activism/

[22]Conversation with April 6th movement leader, Cairo, Egypt, June 10, 2009.

[23] http://6aprilmove.blogspot.com

[24]Zuckerman, Ethan. “Pros and Cons of Facebook Activism.” ...My Heart's in Accra. February 8, 2008. http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2008/02/08/pros-and-cons-of-facebook-activism/

[25]Interview with Hossam El-Hamalawy. Cairo, Egypt, May 27, 2009.

[26] Interview with Demagh MAK. Cairo, Egypt, June 18, 2009.

[27]Interview with April 6th movement leader, Cairo, Egypt, June 10, 2009.

[28] “Egypt: Increase in Censorship and Internet Users’ Privacy Violation.” Arab Network For Human Rights Information. Press Release. August 9, 2008.

[29]Several mobile phone service centers in Zamalek refused to sell me this device in May and June of 2009 without proof of residency in Egypt and requested my passport and address.

[30] Zittrain, Jonathan. The Future of the Internet – And How To Stop It.  New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008.

[31] Foster, Patrick. Iran election: state moves to end ‘Facebook revolution.’” Times Online.  June 14th, 2009. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article6497569.ece

[32] Hendler, James and Jennifer Golbeck. “Metcalfe’s Law, Web 2.0 and the Semantic Web.” http://www.cs.umd.edu/~golbeck/downloads/Web20-SW-JWS-webVersion.pdf

[33]The April 6th organizers Mohamed Adel, for instance was detained for several months in 2008.

[34] Elaasar, Aladdin. “Is Egypt Stable?” Middle East Quarterly 16/3 (Summer 2009): 69-75.

[35]El-Ghobashy, Mona. “Constitutionalist Contention in Egypt.” American Behavioral Scientist, April 29, 2008. P.7

[36] El-Hamalawy, Hossam. “Tanta Flax strike continues.” 3Arabawy. August 11th, 2009. http://arabist.net/arabawy/2009/08/11/tanta-flax-strike-continues-2/

 

[37]Interview with Hossam El-Hamalawy, Cairo, Egypt, May 27, 2009

[38] Rutherford, Bruce K. Egypt After Mubarak. 2008.

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