Class Forces offers a new political economy explanation of the forces behind Egypt’s 2011 uprising. How did movements that had long struggled to challenge an authoritarian regime suddenly help generate a mass uprising capable of bringing down President Hosni Mubarak—and why did that uprising ultimately fail? Moving beyond explanations centered on economic grievances and political repression, the book shows how transformations in capitalism and changing class relations created new opportunities for labor, democratic, and youth movements to mobilize. It traces how the evolving relationship between business and the regime indirectly helped open political space and strengthen movements whose organizational capacities had remained limited.

Nada Matta argues that class dynamics were central to the extraordinary mass mobilization that filled Tahrir Square during the uprising. By focusing on class linkages rather than the more static concept of cross-class coalitions, Matta offers a dynamic account of class relations that also identifies the limits of associational capacities and durable cross-class alliances and helps explain why democratic forces failed to consolidate political gains after President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster. Class Forces illuminates the sources of movement power and vulnerability under contemporary capitalism for social movement practitioners.

Nada Matta is Assistant Professor of Global Studies and Sociology at Drexel University.