The afterlife goes on: The biographical consequences of women's engagement in the 2011 Egyptian uprising

Abstract

What are some of the effects of women's participation in the 2011 Egyptian uprising on their personal biographies? A small body of feminist scholarship has examined how gender mediates the consequences of social movement participation for women. These studies have largely focused on participants' experiences under Western democracies and within women's movements, yet we know less about the impact of participation on women protestors in Arab autocracies. Using the case of the 2011 Egyptian uprising, the study demonstrates how women's participation in the uprising has influenced their personal biographies in the absence of opportunities and resources. I focus on two examples from women's biographies: women's decision to remove the hijab and to leave their family homes and the decision by some protestors to change their careers and work in the area of women's rights. Drawing from the literature on gender and the consequences of social movements, I apply an analytical framework consisting of two key mechanisms: women's experiences during contention and their exposure to new critical networks. Building on 20 interviews with former protestors and activists, I show how women's encounters with gender-based violence in protests and exposures to new social and political networks influenced their personal and professional lives. The article contributes to the growing literature that has sought to explain the transformative impacts of social movements beyond the overtly “political” sphere of policies.