It is not Egypt's 2011 revolution that opened a space for women's and feminist activism, but—as this book shows—the long history of women's activism that created the intellectual and political background for revolution. By centering the experiences and ideas of multiple generations of women activists and intellectuals, Lucia Sorbera traces the feminist genealogies of Egypt's nationalist, student, Marxist, labor, human rights, and democratic social movements. Biography of a Revolution gathers a series of interrelated intimate and relational stories, charting in vivid detail the entanglements between women's aspirations across a century of politics and friendships. This historical analysis innovatively deploys decolonial and indigenous feminist epistemologies, bringing women's, gender, and feminist history into the center of Egypt's political, social, and intellectual history. More than a decade after the 2013 military coup, women's intellectual and political activism remains crucial to keeping the embers of revolution aglow.
Lucia Sorbera is Associate Professor and Chair of Arabic Language and Cultures at the University of Sydney.
"One of the best books I have read in years, Biography of a Revolution is engagingly written, carefully documented, and well argued. It is rich with conversation and compelling stories that center feminist actors and reframe the history of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011."—Beth Baron, author of Egypt as a Woman: Nationalism, Gender, and Politics
"A compelling and nuanced book, especially in Lucia Sorbera's questioning—rather than assumption—of what constitutes the boundaries of the Arab Spring and in her discussion of how various military governments have tried to appropriate women's political agendas."—Sherine Hamdy, coauthor of Lissa: A Story about Medical Promise, Friendship, and Revolution
"Feminism and revolution are historically linked in Egypt. Against the background of existing scholarship, Biography of a Revolution examines the 2011 Revolution through moving, fine-grained personal accounts of feminist revolutionaries, thereby taking the story of feminism and revolution forward and sparking speculation on future trajectories."—Margot Badran, author of Feminists, Islam, and Nation: Gender and the Making of Modern Egypt
"On the basis of oral stories, complemented by rich and varied documentation composed of both archival and personal documents as well as eloquent images, this extraordinary book narrates the intimate lives of eighty Egyptian women. Constructing a collective biography of 'feminist lives,' it shows the long history of feminism in Egypt that led to the revolutionary decade from 2011 on."—Luisa Passerini, author of Autobiography of a Generation: Italy, 1968
"This is an important contribution to the understanding of the revolutionary wave that swept Egypt in 2011. By centering the political biographies of feminist activists, Sorbera argues that the long history of feminist activism in Egypt in the twentieth century has been a key inspirational force behind the 2011 Revolution as well as the human rights movement."—Hoda Elsadda, author of Gender, Nation, and the Arabic Novel: Egypt, 1892–2008
356 pp.6 x 9Illus: 24 b/w images
9780520394742$95.00|£80.00Hardcover
May 2025