Rusha Latif is a researcher and writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. A first-generation Egyptian American, she traveled to Cairo in 2011 to conduct ethnographic research on the uprising. Her interests include social movements and revolutions; the study of gender, class, and race/ethnicity; Islamic studies; and Middle Eastern studies.

"The Egyptian Revolution that began in 2011 lives on, like all revolutions, in the thoughts and works of an entire generation of young observers whose imagination and intellect it had captivated. Many of those observers are now turning their insights into solid ethnographies and systematic contribution to the theory and practice of revolution and social movements in general. It is in this already rich context that Rusha Latif's study stands out. . . . Students and scholars of revolutions and social movements will find much analytical and empirical wealth in this book, thematically, but also methodologically. . . . a fine achievement." -Mohammed Bamyeh, Critical Sociology

"Tahrir's Youth contributes to a broader and more organized examination of the impact that young activists and popular movements can have on social change and how such movements can lead the way." --Volken Yucel, Contemporary Sociology

"For those of us who experienced the Revolution, and continue to live under its consequences, the book provides profiles of people we know and events we witnessed, and as such offers a documentation of our own history and experience. . . . [It] provides another solid addition to the scholarship on the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, as well as Social Movements theory and praxis." --Hala Kamal, Feminist Africa

"The outbreak of the 2011 uprising has raised several questions concerning spontaneity, 'horizontal structures, ' and 'leaderless' movements. Was the revolution planned or purely spontaneous? Here, Latif's book constitutes a compelling intervention. The author argues that the revolution was both planned and spontaneous." --Hossam El-Hamalawy, International Journal of Middle East Studies

"Rusha Latif . . . embedded herself with young activists and writes about what the world can learn from a defeated revolt."―Leila Fadel, NPR

"Deeply personal and highly readable. . . . Tahrir's Youth provides a compelling case study of what author Rusha Latif refers to as 'task-oriented leaders' at the individual level and how they shaped the course of the 18 days in Tahrir Square. The book is a concise overview for those seeking to understand the 2011 Egyptian revolution and where it came from."―Sarah Anne Rennick, Middle East Journal

"In seven beautifully written chapters, the book offers fascinating reading into the career of youth leaders of the Egyptian popular uprisings."―Emad El-Din Shahin, Political Science Quarterly

"Latif's alternative account of the events that occurred in Egypt is welcomed and will inform our understanding of not only the 2011 revolution in Egypt but also subsequent political events that take place in the Internet era."--Pengfei Zhao, Social Forces

"A fascinating glimpse into a revolutionary period . . . . Rusha Latif has made a valuable contribution to research on Egyptian politics with this study, and it will no doubt become a necessary reference for further work on the Arab Spring in Egypt."--Middle East Monitor

"Offers rich insight."--Washington Report on Middle East Affairs

"Compelling for its argument that experienced youth activists helped instigate a revolution that was neither fully planned nor fully spontaneous, the book also offers a candid examination of how to study a revolution. This methodological interrogation makes the book especially thought-provoking for anyone contemplating their own, or their advisees', field

Publisher: American University in Cairo Press

Pub date: 2022-06-28

Length: 356 pages