Constitutions are the answer! Hannah Arendt, revolution and the Arab uprisings

Abstract

This chapter uses Hannah Arendt’s political theory to understand the dynamics of the Egyptian revolution of 2011. The argument of the chapter is that Egypt fell victim to the problem of modern revolutions which Arendt highlighted in her book On Revolution. Rather than seeking to create greater public freedom, Arendt argues that revolutions are quickly captured by an emotive and ultimately destructive search for the ‘constituent power’ of the people. The chapter argues that Egypt’s failure to build institutions that reflected its own political, legal and cultural contexts helps explains the collapse of its revolutionary dynamic and the return to authoritarian rule.