ABSTRACT
This study explores the factors that have affected the changing forms of political activism in Egypt between 2000 and 2008. It analyzes the reasons for the development of social movements, and in turn, it explains how such movements influence the political behavior of youth, and hence their understandings of citizenship. The study primarily centers on social movements as a valid tool of activism in the aftermaths of three politically significant periods: (1) Palestinian Intifada (2000–2002); (2) Iraq war (2003–2005); and (3) 2005 parliamentary elections (2006–2008/9). The author argues there are two main reasons behind the rise and development of social movements as a disruptive form of activism: First, the strong and steady periods of activism followed periods of limited liberalization opportunities; and, second, the stagnation of the generation of activists of the 1970s and their failure to incubate the young activists’ generation gave rise to new forms of activism.
