8/7/2019
the-egyptian-revolution-is-being-co-opted-by-marco-fonseca
1/2
The Egyptian Revolution is being co-optedFebruary 06, 2011
By Marco Fonseca
The Egyptian Revolution is being co-opted. From the moment the
international media beganlabelling protesters as "pro-democracy"
fighters to the moment when liberal politicians like El-Baradei
appointed themselves - and were regarded as such by the
"international community" andnot emphatically opposed by the local
youth activists of the January 25th movement - asrepresentatives of
the "people" and from the moment that the United States began to
articulate its
fall-back policy towards Egypt - and the whole Middle East,
except Israel - as a policy of "co-ordinatedtransition to
democracy", the revolution was lost.
Let's be clear about this. The model of "co-ordinated transition
to democracy", the idea that whatEgypt needs is a system of "fair
and free elections" at regular intervals and with a real chance for
the"opposition" to access power in the political institutions of
the status quo, is in fact the regulationand co-optation of radical
grassroots dissent for the preservetion of imperial rule in the
Middle East,for the preservation of the balance of power with
Israel and other Middle Eastern countries, and forthe preservation
of certain ruling elites within Egypt to the exclusion of the
spectres that theseelites, and the United States/Israel fear the
most: the radical left and Muslim fundamentalism.
But Egyptian dissent as expressed in the January uprising is
informed only to some extent by thesentiments of oppressed and
radicalized Muslims or by those of "pro-democracy" activists.
Although
not altogether absent - how could it be? - Muslim fundamentalism
does not appear to be thedecisive force behind the process.
Likewise, although some Egyptians do speak the language ofliberal
democracy as a solution to some of their problems, few see this
model of poliical communityas the route to real emancipation from
the shackles of imperial domination, vernacular militaryhegemony,
and traditional party elites and machineries. The language of
western democracy is hereas suspect as the language of Al-Qaida.
The force that appears to be driving the process moredirectly is
the force of hunger, unemployment, exclusion, marginalization,
repression, and fear. Thelanguage that one hears coming from the
streets of Egypt is the language of liberation. Thus, thestruggle
to break free from the shackles of marginalization, impoverishment,
exclusion, repression,and hopelessness by young Egyptians, some
groups of women, and certain segments of the middleclass, this is
the driving force behind the process.
Although largely devoid of a centralized, political party-like,
leadership, this movement isnonetheless not devoid of a central
project of change: it is about the satisfaction of human needs,
itis about the meeting of youthful expectations, it is about a fair
social and economic compact, it isabout the political empowerment
of people left out by 30 years of bureaucratic, militaristic
anddespotic authoritarianism, Mubarak style, and it is about - as
far as it's possible to tell - delinkingfrom corporate-driven
globalization and its trickle down effects on Egypt felt there by
theimplementation of Mubarak style neo-liberalism (comprehensive
and institutionalized corruption andpersonal enrichment willfully
tolerated by the West mixed with high expenditures for the benefit
ofthe military elite and their clienteles mixed with fiscal
austerity and discipline for the rest of thepeople). Keeping this
whole institutional arrangement and adding controlled elections is
whatimperial foreign policy in the Middle East, those who are
setting themselves up as the architects ofthe "transition", and the
global corporate media call "democracy".
8/7/2019
the-egyptian-revolution-is-being-co-opted-by-marco-fonseca
2/2
Absolutely none of the widespread grassroots demands, from
effective socio-economic inclusionand justice to delinking from
corporate-driven globalization and neoliberalism to an emphatic
breakwith the past of bankrupt political parties, the indirect rule
of the army, and the ruling NDP elites canbe accomplished within
the model of a US-imposed and Suleiman-controlled
"co-ordinatedtransition to democracy". Thus, to the extent that
this model advances and succeeds, so too willdeepen the loss of the
revolution that Egypt could sill have and that originates from
youthfulrevolutionary spirit that today haunts the streets of its
dusty and old cities and towns.
From: Z Net - The Spirit Of Resistance Lives
URL:http://www.zcommunications.org/the-egyptian-revolution-is-being-co-opted-by-marco-fonseca
http://www.zcommunications.org/the-egyptian-revolution-is-being-co-opted-by-marco-fonseca
