I fail to the see conflict... April 6 arises out of their very involvement in the strike…hence the date…i.e. their politicization was crowned by their activism in support of the strike…who was on strike? The workers of course. In Cairo organised labour was decisive because they hit the streets about one week in, a perfect wave at just the right time, but like the MB and opposition parties, my sense is they were uncertain at the start.
Seen this….?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrNz0dZgqN8
Cursory, and makes claims it doesn’t substantiate, but it documents an aspect of the reality…for me the most important is the generational mobilization (which to me explains the whole techno angle). What no one is talking about is the local angle: these people are all from different parts of Cairo.
Look past the voice over, look at what they actually do, and it seems to me this is ALL about real time organizing, face-to-face mostly….you can’t get people into the streets without face time (and, yes, April 6 were significant, tho not in control…no one was. Intifada). The only people who see what happened as a social media replacing human interaction are those hooked on social media in the first place. But a big part of the mix? no question. (btw, good old mass media also played a role: No one in the west seems to have realized the impact of Wael Ghonim (Google guy) post-detention interview one week ago: his break-down and walking off the set was emotionally genuine, but it was also (unintentionally) pitch perfect Egyptian drama – seriously, it was sooooo melodramatic - the effect of which was pure mass media mobilization when all internet based sources were shut down ….in one fell swoop it branded the security forces as the source of the violence at a time when many Egyptians were unsure, and at the same time branded the security forces and the regime as the source of everything wrong with social mobility in the country; it spoke to all those who wanted to be him and all those who wished their sons and daughters could have those opportunities, etc etc. I have no doubt that millions of mothers – and quite a few fathers – were in tears at the end of it. Can media ever replace organization? No. Can organization ever bring millions into the street without media? No).
On 14 Feb 2011, at 5:18 PM, 123hop at comcast.net wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Michael Pollak" <mpollak at panix.com>
>
> Everything I have read credits labor organizing as the key factor in
> the Egypt uprising. It will clearly play a crucial role in the
> coming months, as the generals attempt to stem the flood. But what I
> don't understand is why it has to be one or the other.
>
> This uprising has been years in the making -- something like a
> decade. I see social media playing two roles in that period. One, by
> broadcasting images of the torture it made something a matter of
> public indignation that would otherwise have been a matter of
> private shame. Second, because social media tends to flatten
> hierarchies, and to suggest that we do indeed make stuff up as we go
> along...it created a new space that the participants could fill with
> their own reality and dreams.
>
> j.
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk