MEDITERRANEANRESEARCHMEETING(MRM)

21‐24March2012

WORKSHOP 1 YOUTH AND CITIZENSHIP IN A DIGITAL ERA

LINDA HERRERA & PETER MAYO

BUILDING POLITICAL WORLD OF EGYPTIAN CHILDREN AND YOUNG GENERATIONS

IN A DIGITAL ERA

CHIARA DIANA

BUILDINGPOLITICALWORLDOFEGYPTIANCHILDRENANDYOUNGGENERATIONS

INADIGITALERA

Drawings of Egyptian children some days after the 25th revolution 2011

ABOUT…

  ActorsofRevolution(s):Childrenandyounggenerations

  ParticipationinRevolution:TransnationalMovement

  Revolutioncontinues…Inthestreet…Onsocialnetworksand…Atschool

  Theoreticalpoints

  Openconclusiveremarks

ACTORSOFREVOLUTION

  Childrenunder15yearsoldInEgypt,Accordingtothelastcensus2006,theyrepresent31.7%ofthewholeofthepopulation(Capmas2006)

InMENAregion,thecombinationofasigniPicantdeclineinchildmortalityandtherelativelyslowonsetoffertilitydeclineledtoanincreaseintheproportionofchildrenunder15anditshouldcontinuetogrow(AssaadRagui,Roudi‐FahimiFarzaneh,2007)

Figure=>

ACTORSOFREVOLUTION

Population Growth in MENA by Age Group, 1950-2050

Source: United Nations, World Population Prospects: the 2004 Revision (New York : UN 2005). Quoted by Assaad Ragui, Roudi-Fahimi Farzaneh, 2007

TRANSNATIONALMOVEMENT

  TransnationalmovementofArabchildreninrevolution:

SamedynamicscouldbeidentiPiedinthedifferentArabcountrieswhichexperiencedrevolutionaryevents:childrenmarchingformanifestations,strikingupthestrongestslogansoftherevolution,thesameineverycountry,chantingphrasesagainstregime,accompaniedbyparentsorsomebodyelse(Filiu2011)

EmpiricaldataofvideosandpicturesfromTunisia,Libya,Syria,Egyptshowthiscommonexperience

PicturesandVideos=>

TRANSNATIONALMOVEMENT

Libya Egypt

Yemen

Tunisia

Syria

TRANSNATIONALMOVEMENT

  RevolutioninTunisia(examples)‐VideosbyArte(French‐Germanchannel)http://videos.arte.tv/fr/videostunisie_la_revolution_par_les_enfants_de_l_ecole_primaire_d_hammam_lif_12_juillet_2011‐4033926.html(Interviewedchildreninaprimaryschool)

‐VideoonYouTubehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewCrmZgakFQ(Childrencommenttheirdrawingsaboutrevolution)

  RevolutioninSyria(examples)‐VideosonYouTubehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdQhqFep4aE&feature=related(ChildrendemonstrateinDeraa)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCMMdBHPbU8&feature=related(DemonstrationforHamzaal‐Khateeb,youngof13yearsoldarrested,torturedandkilledbySyrianregime)

‐FacebookpageofHamzaal‐Khateeb“WeareallthechildmartyrHamzaal

Khateeb”https://www.facebook.com/hamza.alshaheed

REVOLUTIONCONTINUESINTHESTREET…

  RevolutioninEgypt

‐VideosbyArte(French‐Germanchannel)http://videos.arte.tv/fr/videos/suleiman_abdel_hakam_egypte_20_mai_2011‐3917994.html(Suleyman,6years

old,talksaboutrevolution)

‐VideosonYouTubehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsnPi9Km65A(Child,5yearsold,leadsprotestsinTahrir,chantingslogans)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3X1gQQlCKQ&feature=related(Girlchildcalls«thepeopledemandtheremovalof

theregime»inTahrir)

REVOLUTIONCONTINUESONSOCIALNETWORKS…

  FacebookPage“Thawrama3hashbita2a”(RevolutionwithoutID)https://www.facebook.comThawra.ma3hash.beta2ahttps://www.facebook.comThawra.ma3hash.beta2aapp_326083590761463

MovementofEgyptianchildrenandyoungpeopleunder18yearsold.Someimportantpointsindeclaration:toprovidetheircreativecapacitiesforthedevelopmentofEgyptandtodisseminatetheirmessages,

opinionsandremarksattheonlyconditionthatdon’tcontractwithreligionvalues.

REVOLUTIONCONTINUESONSOCIALNETWORKS…

  PictureofAyaMohsen’stwitteraccountwithYousriFouda(TVmanof«AkhrKalam»)http://twitter.com/#!/a_aya97

  MembersofThawrama3hashBita2ainTVprogramme«AkhrKalam»http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=lP‐213N7oAU

REVOLUTIONCONTINUESATSCHOOL…

  “Egypt’sSchoolStudentsforChange

movement”‐CallforgeneralstrikewithuniversitystudentsonFebruary11,2011

  VideosbyAsmae(FrenchNGO)http://www.lesenfantsdemahaba.comvideo.php?vid=9(interviewedchildreninanEgyptianschool)

  EDRAKOpinionpollofEgyptianchildren

REVOLUTIONCONTINUESATSCHOOL…

EDRAK“HowtoMakeaBetterEgypt”

- Question: “what do you know about the revolution in Tahrir”? - Answer: “our revolution was made because people were angry, while FB was how they communicated”

people are angry 52% 42% A Facebook revolution

6% I don’t know

-  Question: Did you go to Tahrir Sq. with your family or friends? -  Answer: More than 1 out of 4 kids went to the Action zone

Almost ½ of the kids went to such landmark during or right after

27% Yes, during the revolution

20% Immediately after the revolution

53% No

THEORETICALPOINTS

POLITICALSOCIALIZATION(Durkheim,Hyman,Percheron)

Formsduringearlyyearsoflife(10‐11yearsold)Createspoliticalpreferences

FamilyandsocialmilieucontributionChildisn’tapassivebeing

Acquisitionofintellectualandpracticalskills

ApplicationonEgyptian/Arabchildren

OPENCONCLUSIVEREMARKS

A quotation of Kamel Al-Janzuri who, in a public speech last January, said : “we are glad for what our young generation is doing for the Revolution, but children aged 12-13 years old who threw stones in order to destroy walls of governmental institutions, could not be considered as a real theer (revolutionary)”.

- Who is the real theer? - Could it be possible to give a definition of “theer”? -  Could “age” play an important role for this definition? - As “public space”, could school be a place where making revolution?

Bring revolution into the school…