The 2011 Egyptian Uprising: a new chapter among Egyptians in the UK?

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of PhilosophyThis thesis examines the reactions of Egyptians living in the UK to the 2011 uprising in their home country, in terms of belonging to Egypt, Egyptian identity, political participation and media use. The Egyptian revolution was a defining moment in the history of the country and several studies have focused on the effects of the unrest on Egyptians. Further studies are required to study the impact on the Egyptians abroad. This thesis focuses on studying the effects of the revolution on Egyptians living in the UK, including first and second generations. The study is qualitative research involving interviews and ethnographic work among Egyptians in the UK. The inclusion criteria of interviewees include Egyptians residing in the UK aged 18 and over who witnessed the 2011 uprising in Egypt or in the UK. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted, four ethnographic events were attended and data from two groups on Facebook were collected. The transcripts of the interviews, the ethnographic checklists, reports and the groups’ data were thematically analysed and studied. This study has revealed that the revolution acted as a catalyst for the sense of belonging and identity in three dimensions, namely, differences among the first and second generations, in terms of reaction to the revolution, in defining the terms homeland, sense of pride and notion of return, among other parameters. Political participation of the diaspora in response to the revolution was variable and the sense of hopefulness faded away over time to a sense of hopelessness. Offline participation, compared to online participation, was a feature expressed more among the second-generation diaspora. Media use by the diaspora was studied regarding the role of social and mainstream media as a source of information of the revolution. The study concluded that the exertion of the effect of the revolution on the diaspora during the early years faded away over time, witnessing an unexpected deviation with respect to changing events in Egypt. The study proposes a new framework for features of the second-generation Egyptian diaspora in the UK, which covers eight different areas emphasised in this study

The Role of the Media Among Egyptian Diaspora in the UK During the 2011 Egyptian Uprising and Afterwards

This paper focuses on the role of the media among the Egyptian diaspora during and post the 2011 uprising. The first topic discussed is how the Egyptian diaspora in the UK dealt with the media during the uprising. In order to examine how the Egyptian diaspora used the media, interviews conducted with 22 Egyptians from different generations and two Facebook pages have been analysed. Information gathered from 22 interviews and two Facebook pages were gathered and analysed using thematic analysis. Regarding the theoretical framework, the main theoretical framework is based on the concept of Goffman ‘performing identity’ in addition to concepts related to media, sociology and diaspora groups. The Egyptian diaspora used social media in two ways: the first was to stay informed of the uprising in Egypt, whereas the second was by way of using social media websites, such as Facebook as a platform to gather and participate in protests organised in the UK as a support for fellow Egyptians in Egypt and to prove their Egyptian identity. The Egyptian diaspora in the UK including different generations were in agreement with the notion of mistrusting Western and Arabic mainstream media. Conversely, the role of social media was controversial. Egyptian interviewees looked for alternatives to social and mainstream media as a source of information and by using personal networks to gain this information. Keywords: Diaspora, uprising, Egyptian, social media, mainstream media, identity DOI: 10.7176/NMMC/93-04 Publication date:September 30th 202