ABSTRACT
In Chapter 7, transnational political networks in Paris are described based on interviews with activists and an analysis of their Facebook activism. In Paris, protests were more frequent than in Vienna and were dominated by migrants who had recently come to France. After the first demonstrations in January 2011, transnational networks were founded to parallel organisations and political groups in Egypt, sometimes even adopting the same name. Transnational activists included a segment of people who understood themselves as the ‘revolutionary youth’ abroad, lobbying for a secular state in Egypt. To some extent, these new networks temporarily transcended differences in social class and included irregular migrants working in the construction sector and middle-class Egyptians who were well integrated into the French labour market. Political divisions rose sharply after July 2013, polarising Egyptian social fields into two main camps. These divisions crystallised around the terms inqilāb (coup) and aṯ-ṯawra aṯ-ṯāniya (second revolution), i.e. around the question of how the events of 3 July 2013 should be interpreted. After the overthrow of Morsi in July 2013, the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy was created, advocating for his return to the political scene.
