The Social Integration of Copts in Revolutionary Egypt

Volume 1|Issue 4| Spring 2013 |Theme of the Issue

Abstract

Mujeeb examines the main factors influencing the political and social integration of Egypt’s Coptic Christians through an analysis of the most pressing developments affecting them following Egypt’s revolution. Despite some positive social indicators that emerged during and after the revolution, showing signs of political and social integration of Copts, others point in a different direction. Specifically, these include an increase in sectarian incidents in Egypt and the changes in how the state and religious institutions (the Coptic Church in specific) relate to each other, in addition to a parliament and presidency with an Islamist majority. These events occurred in tandem with the death of the Coptic Pope, leading to the Coptic Church undergoing a transitional phase that paralleled the one of Egypt. As the relationship between society and state continues to form in Egypt, the political and social integration of the country’s Copts remains at stake. Mujeeb’s analysis deals with important questions, mainly: Have recent developments in Egypt been dealt with in a manner reinforcing the inclusion of Copts? Or have these developments intersected with an inherited legacy that produces further obstacles to the political and social integration of Copts? Mujeeb attempts to answer these questions by relying on the examination of the triangular relationship between the regime, the church, and the Copts, as well as by analyzing the social relationship between Copts and Muslims in Egypt. Mujeeb concludes that a barrier of fear has been broken, but even if the triangular relationship imposed under authoritarian conditions may have ended, these shifts have not yet led to overcoming the obstacles that prevent the full political and social assimilation of Egypt’s Copts. 



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