“The world’s progress is like that of a fleet horse, galloping and galloping onward. Whatever cannot skillfully change itself and progress along with world will find itself eliminated. This intellectual was affirming the need of collective human action and the efficacy of that action for guiding social change.”( Robert H. Lauer)
In this essay movements around the Middle East countries will be discussed in accordance with the theories of social movements.
Social movement is a persistent and organized effort on the part of relatively large number of people either to bring about or to resist a social change. According to “McAdam,1999” social movements are those organized efforts, on the part of excluded groups, to promote or resist changes in the structure of society that involve recourse to non institutional forms of political participation.” So social movement is a collective action of masses in which all the protesters are working under same ideology. People in social movements are bonded due to various perspectives like same ideologies, emotions, religion, gender, ethnic bases etc. So what is happening in Middle East countries?
In Middle East countries like Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Bahrain huge masses came out on streets and roads protesting against the existing governments on their failure in providing the basic needs of a common person. So the main theme of these movements is economic, social and political inequalities. Looking onto Egypt’s movement, Egypt was ruled by President Mubarak for last thirty years. The movement started in 2006 by the labors of textile factory in Mahalla due to economic issues and Mahalla was once again the site of dissent when the food prices hit a new high. Egypt was passing through severe economic and social instabilities. People of Egypt were suffering due to the government’s false economic policies and were not given the rights they wanted. According to Esam Shaban, a researcher at the Afaq ishtiraqeyya center, “Over 80 percent of Egyptians are poor, Shaban says, and conditions have worsened over the past five years. While the Egyptian government often claims that increasing poverty is result of global market fluctuations, others suggest that Egypt’s problems are the direct result of growing gentrification and the government’s economic policies.”(Rizk)
These were some issues due to which a movement started and huge masses were on streets. This movement was later in 2008 joined by the university students when a student who was protesting against the economic conditions in country was shot by the police forces. The movement got strengthened when different classes of people joined the movement in which political parties like brotherhood were also included. Finally the movement resulted in stepping down of President Husni Mubarak from office.
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