Abstract
The paper is a follow-up analysis of a study about the rise of Islamist youth as a subculture in the Egyptian context in recent years. Focusing on the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) as an organizational entity, the study has classified youth into „supportive‟ youth in terms of their organizational attachment and „critical‟ youth, who have called for more democracy and youth empowerment. Critical MB youth have been further subdivided into those who have left the organization and those who have stayed in it despite their political and/or ideological disagreements with the organization. The subculture of critical Islamist youth, notably MB youth, has conspicuously converged with other liberal and secular Egyptian youths regarding their views about democracy. The proposed study suggests some form of internal mobility, as exhibited by the above classification, where based on their altered stance towards democracy a number of „critical‟ Islamist youth have joined the „supportive‟ camp and a number of „supportive‟ Islamist youth have developed „radicalized‟ stances. Interestingly enough, some level of convergence could bind supportive and critical Islamist MB youth together, at the expense of their relationship with other liberal and secular youths. The paper is based on semi-structured interviews and content analysis using academic sources and journalistic material
Highlights
The last decade witnessed the rise of a subculture of Islamist Muslim Brotherhood (MB) youth who were largely urban, technologically savvy and connected with other youths through social networks, and who developed critical stances toward the Brotherhood‟s ideological rigidity and lack of internal democracy.[1]
Islamism as a notion could enfold both „Islamist politics‟ and the process of „re-Islamization,‟ where „Islamist politics‟ refers to the activities of movements and organizations that deploy symbols and signs from Islamic traditions, espousing a political ideology that calls for establishing an Islamic government, i.e., a government enforcing the shari„ah (Islamic law). „Islamization‟ or „re-Islamization‟ denotes a drive towards Islamizing the social sphere comprising a process through which various facets of social life operate using symbols and signs linked with Islamic cultural traditions.[3]
In the wake of the Arab uprisings, it can be noticed that a number of historically apolitical Islamist forces as the Salafists and formerly militant ones such as Tandheem al-Jihād and al-Jama'a alIslamiyya in Egypt have espoused the democratic route to compete with mainstream Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood.[6]
Summary
The last decade witnessed the rise of a subculture of Islamist Muslim Brotherhood (MB) youth who were largely urban, technologically savvy and connected with other youths through social networks, and who developed critical stances toward the Brotherhood‟s ideological rigidity and lack of internal democracy.[1]. Focusing on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the paper endeavors to explore this convoluted relationship
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