Egyptian Revolution 2.0: Political Blogging, Civic Engagement, and Citizen Journalism.

• Author: Samei, Marwa Fikry Abdel
• Position: Book review

Egyptian Revolution 2.0

Political Blogging, Civic Engagement, and Citizen Journalism

By Mohammed el-Nawawy and Sahar Khamis

New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, 252 pages, $95, ISBN 9781137020918.

The wave of mass protests that swept through the Arab World in early 2011 highlighted the distinct role of the internet-based media tools and networks. In their book, Egyptian Revolution 2.0: Political Blogging, Civic Engagement, and Citizen Journalism, Mohammad El Nawawy and Sahar Khamis show how the new media have become effective mobilization tools. By focusing on the Egyptian blogosphere, the authors shed light on the role played by political blogs in "paving the road for the Egyptian popular revolution of 2011" (p. 2).

Over the six chapters of the book, the authors contend that political blogs provide a venue for exercising and exemplifying acts of resistance and empowerment, and act as catalysts for political change by providing vital platforms for discussion and debate. To prove this argument, the authors adopt a qualitative research analysis, namely textual analysis and in-depth interviews, of five Egyptian political blogs to highlight their role in "encouraging civic engagement and public participation" (p. 3).

In the first two chapters, the authors set the conceptual foundation of the monograph and explore the literature on the potential democratizing effect of the internet with a special focus on political blogging and cyberactivism, in particular, in Egypt. They show "how political blogging can actually energize and revitalize civil society through boosting and encouraging the growth of active civic engagement and actual political participation" (p. 27). Discussing the transformative nature of the Arab media landscape, the authors explore how the new media encourages political change and paves the way for democratization. The authors, then, analyze selected threads from the five blogs under study. They classify the threads based on their intended function: mobilization (urging people to engage in a certain action or activity), documentation (documenting the atrocities and wrongdoings of the regime in power and its security apparatus), or deliberation (providing a platform for the useful exchange of ideas and brainstorming).

While chapter 4 focuses on human right's Violations--related threads, chapter 5 tackles specific threads exposing the corruption of Mubarak's regime. The authors establish the relationship between these threads, on...