Current Sociology

Please welcome our Sociologist of the Month for July 2022, Nadim Mirshak (Department of Sociology, University of Manchester, UK). His article for Current Sociology, The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt: A Gramscian re-examination is Open Access.

Nadim Mirshak

Could you please tell us about yourself? How did you come to your field of study?

N. Mirshak: I am currently a Lecturer in Sociology at The University of Manchester, where I also obtained my PhD in 2017. My journey to becoming a political sociologist was quite unconventional given that my previous degrees were in an unrelated discipline. However, growing up in Cairo, I was always interested in politics, which proved challenging within an education system that continuously attempts to stifle critical thinking and understandings of inequalities. Accordingly, discussions surrounding how education is a politically contested domain fascinated me (and also got me into trouble with a few teachers along the way!).

The 2011 Egyptian Uprisings provided me with the needed impetus to explore this in more depth. My PhD utilised a Gramscian perspective to investigate how education can become a method of resistance under authoritarian contexts, where I argued (and still do) that education must be understood as part of a wider movement of resistance that goes beyond our traditional understandings of contentious politics. As part of this, I focused on the methods adopted and adapted by Egyptian social movements to function and survive under ever-increasing repression. I guess my interests in researching social movements, education, and resistance in Egypt still remain intact as I am currently working on a monograph entitled Resistance under Authoritarian Settings: Gramsci and Education in Egypt, to be published with Routledge.

What prompted you to research the area of your article, “The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt: A Gramscian Re-examination”?

N. Mirshak: Arguably my most ‘controversial’ to date, this article stems from, firstly, my interest in the theories of Antonio Gramsci and how they can be applied to different contexts without losing their critical and analytical vigour. And, secondly, from being constantly asked ‘What about the Muslim Brotherhood?’ whenever people encountered my research on Gramsci and education. I must admit, this enquiry was unsurprising given that the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is regarded as Egypt’s most influential oppositional force, and indeed, has also been analysed from a Gramscian lens where some projected it as a counterhegemonic force par excellence. Such perspectives specifically cite the MB’s all-sufficient Islam, cohesive organisational structure, and ability to wage a war of position as representing parallels to Gramsci’s revolutionary methodology. However, I have always been sceptical of this line of argument, especially after the MB lost power in 2013 in such a sudden and dramatic fashion. This therefore prompted me to interrogate this specific Gramscian reading of the MB.

What do you see as the key findings of your article?

N. Mirshak: I think the key arguments of my article can be briefly summarised as follows:

1) The MB’s alternative worldview, institutions and values did contest different ruling regimes in different measures, particularly during Hosni Mubarak’s rule (1981-2011), but considering it as an embodiment of a counterhegemonic force par excellence is not entirely accurate.

2) The MB’s hegemonic project was never capable of truly challenging the ruling one, nor was it able to obtain the widespread consent of Egyptians. Its inability to adequately deal with state coercion, its intellectual inertia, failure in governance, and its neoliberal and passive revolutionary tendencies, all contributed to it falling short of implementing the political, economic, and social changes demanded by Egyptians in 2011. In other words, the seeds of the MB’s downfall were already in place even before they assumed power; the coup d’état of 2013 merely hastened it.

3) The MB’s downfall should not deter future efforts aimed at challenging the hegemonic order. Instead, lessons from the MB’s limitations must be heeded with Gramsci’s insights still remaining a crucial part in aiding this endeavour.

What are the wider social implications of your research in the current social climate? How do you think things will change in the future?

N. Mirshak: In terms of my overall research interests, I think the wider implications of my research coalesce around the need to re-examine dominant understandings of resistance against the backdrop of increasingly authoritarian regimes across the region. My research (I hope) demonstrates that despite the repressive capabilities associated with such regimes, these should not be viewed as being absolute but as contestable across multiple fronts which are not always explicit or visible. There are alternative ways of organising, educating, and resisting which contribute to an ongoing molecular process of resistance that go beyond traditional understandings of resistance. In terms of this article, the main implication is that any hegemonic project (like the Muslim Brotherhood’s) will be bound to fail if it does not truly offer viable ideological and material alternatives to the established political, economic, and socio-cultural structures. The ability to form strong alliances and coalitions will also prove vital.

How do I think things will change in the future? Conducting social research in Egypt is becoming increasingly difficult, with many Egyptian researchers, particularly studying and working outside of Egypt, targeted due to their research. As this article was published, two Egyptian researchers, Patrick Zaki and Ahmed Samir Santawi, were arrested on their return to Egypt. Zaki has recently been released on parole, whilst Santawi is still in prison.

I would highly recommend reading this excellent piece by Khaled Fahmy on ‘The perils of conducting academic research in Sisi’s Egypt’: https://khaledfahmy.org/en/2022/01/16/the-perils-of-conducting-academic-research-in-sisis-egypt/?fbclid=IwAR14-0hpsTg7V65RLh0lbh9oWJLnYh1Pv4Z8Dkzq0H98xxV3XchCA8p7yP4), in addition to this report written by the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) on the targeting of Egyptian researchers: https://afteegypt.org/en/research-en/monitoring-reports-en/2022/01/02/27902-afteegypt.html?fbclid=IwAR28Qv_6rqxEA5LeATf3Y9wXBOJQNmcJVpSc6zvmX8U8b_LlyGMqH_ueZRY.

The challenges facing researchers, activists, and oppositional forces are immense. Yet, I still believe that hegemony is never complete, and is always going to be contested. I am writing this on the 11th anniversary of the Egyptian Uprisings and it is pertinent to revisit the words of Egyptian activists Alaa Abd El-Fattah and Ahmed Douma written in 2014 when they were both in prison:

To erase – for the revolution –
a page
is to give us
a chance
to think again
and to write.

(Source: https://www.madamasr.com/en/2014/01/25/feature/politics/graffiti-for-two-alaa-and-douma/)