Interview with Emad El-Din Shahin (original) (raw)

Emad Shahin: Let us start with the concepts first. The first concept is what became known as 'Arab Spring.' Moving beyond clichés, what the region witnessed in 2011 is a massive wave of popular uprisings that reflected "People Power" that called for freedom, dignity and social justice. These demands were not welcome by the custodians of the old regime and some conservative regional and international powers that engineered a destabilization process in the transitioning countries and succeeded in turning the 'Spring' into a chilling 'Winter'. Nonetheless, a reassuring thing is that the driving causes behind the uprisings of 2011 are still there and indicate that we have not seen the end of these popular waves yet. Now, turning to your question, there are obviously certain things that the Arab Spring has achieved. The question now is 'to what extent these changes are really sustainable or permanent as the question raises and to what extent they are temporary.' I think the most important thing is the manifestation of people's power. The outpouring of hundreds of thousands and millions of Egyptians to the streets all united on one goal broke the cliché or stereotype about Arabs that they do not protest except for bread or when they are told to by their autocratic regimes. This time, however, people went against corruption, injustice and against autocratic and authoritarian regimes. They were seeking freedom, social justice, economic growth and prosperity, as well. These values go beyond the material things and point out to a new framework of governance. They are closely related to democracy, human rights, rule of law, and balanced and sustainable development. This was the power of the people. People can express themselves on the streets; express their demands in huge numbers; and in the end, can overpower repressive authorities. This was one element that we can summarize is self-determination, emancipation and popular sovereignty.