ABSTRACT

The January 25 revolution is a shift in Egypt’s protest culture from pressure for reforms to an occupation movement contesting state repression, where resides Tahrir square’s novelty. While social actors’ agency was treated as a dependent variable on authoritarianism institutional characteristics, this study introduces public space occupation as an independent means of mobilization based on the case of the Egyptian revolution. Unlike protests that have been carried out under successive military regimes asking for reforms, the January 25 protests manifested an occupation movement based on the post-ideological character of the protests’ demands and the innovative and transcultural means of expression.