Keynote Address: Some Reflections on the Role of Media in Egypt’s January 25th Revolution

 
[Walter Armbrust delivering the Keynote Address at the Westminster Conference]

This lecture delves into the situational and historic dynamics that undergirded the media practices surrounding the January 25 revolution in Egypt. The notion of social revolution is unpacked to evaluate its application to the Egyptian revolutionary context. By looking at the cultural production of revolution--from rap songs against Mubarak to online memes against the Morsi government--the social mobilization is seen as more than just bodies in the street. Confrontations against the architecture of the state, particularly the attacks on police stations across the country, are addressed to critique the pervailing simplified representation of revolutionary action. Furthermore, the problematics of technological determinism are unpacked to reveal the researcher's role in unwittingly reproducing Orientalism.