Egypt's Football Revolution - Carl Rommel

Livres & MAM (mondes arabes et musulmans)

Le 17 avril 2023, Livres & MAM accueillait Carl Rommel (Uppsala University) pour évoquer son livre "Egypt’s Football Revolution. Emotion, Masculinity, and Uneasy Politics" (Texas University Press, 2021). L'entretien était mené par Marie Vannetzel (IREMAM). Both a symbol of the Mubarak government’s power and a component in its construction of national identity, football served as fertile ground for Egyptians to confront the regime’s overthrow during the 2011 revolution. With the help of the state, appreciation for football in Egypt peaked in the late 2000s. Yet after Mubarak fell, fans questioned their previous support, calling for a reformed football for a new, postrevolutionary nation. In Egypt’s Football Revolution, Carl Rommel examines the politics of football as a space for ordinary Egyptians and state forces to negotiate a masculine Egyptian chauvinism. Basing his discussion on several years of fieldwork with fans, players, journalists, and coaches, he investigates the increasing attention paid to football during the Mubarak era; its demise with the 2011 uprisings and 2012 Port Said massacre, which left seventy-two fans dead; and its recent rehabilitation. Cairo’s highly organized and dedicated Ultras fans became a key revolutionary force through their antiregime activism, challenging earlier styles of fandom and making visible entrenched ties between sport and politics. As the appeal of football burst, alternative conceptions of masculinity, emotion, and politics came to the fore to demand or prevent revolution and reform. Livres & MAM est un cycle d’entretiens organisé par l’IREMAM et la médiathèque de la MMSH avec les auteur·e·s d’ouvrages académiques récents sur les mondes arabes et musulmans. Les séances sont visibles sur la chaîne Youtube de l’IREMAM et réécoutables en podcast sur Anchor et Apple Podcasts. Réalisation : Thomas Pierret