Fatalism in Post-Revolution Egypt
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Date
2014-08
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Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
Fatalism is the belief that forces outside of our control largely decide our future. It has traditionally been thought of as a single overarching idea. One recent study using the World Values Survey for the 2005-2010 wave found that social and religious fatalism are strongly correlated in most countries but not in others, including Egypt. This paper examines these two fatalisms in Egypt during the political opening created by the Egyptian revolution of 2011. Interviews were conducted with 136 adults in the months immediately following the June 17, 2012 Presidential election. In line with the WVS results, we found two unrelated dimension of fatalism: social and theological. The social correlates of these different dimensions are quite distinct, and each fatalism has different implications for political action. Social fatalism is associated with being older and female and is critical for willingness to engage in protest. Religious fatalism is negatively related to education and has no impact on protest potential. We conclude that fatalism has multiple dimensions that need to be separated to understand their origins and their implications for political action.
Description
Undergraduate Research Office Summer Research Fellowship
4th Place Denman Undergraduate Research Forum
Featured in annual "Highlights of Undergraduate Research"
4th Place Denman Undergraduate Research Forum
Featured in annual "Highlights of Undergraduate Research"
Keywords
Fatalism, Egypt, Religion, Multi-dimensional fatalism, Culture