Egyptian Youth in Urban and Virtual SpacesMark Allen Peterson

Miami University

Fieldwork in Egypt1998-2002, 2005, 2010

What I have to say today is based on “anthropology at a distance”

But informed by

Prior fieldwork

Discussions with friends in Egypt

Social media

US EDITION MIDDLE EAST EDITION

“Youth”

Youth is…

A life stage

A cultural construction

Cosmopolitans

The “cosmopolitan class” (Peterson 2011)

The young, educated, underemployed

“young brothers in cyberspace” (Lynch 2007)

New Youth Movements1. New and independent2.  Flexible, decentralized

structured and fluid leadership.

3.  The movements are “trans-ideological”.

4.  Drew in large numbers of participants who had never before engaged in public political acts.

5. Depend to a great extent on social media for communication.

From Shehata 2011.

Virtual Spaces

Overcoming isolation

Bringing people

together

Trying out identities

Urban Spaces

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdKjMiKqVrc&feature=player_embedded

Creativity

Liminality

Antistructure

Communitas