'I used to be afraid, now I am Egyptian': The role of emotion in Tahrir Square during the 2011 Arab Spring

The 2011 Arab Spring was a watershed moment for the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. In Egypt, mass protests against President Hosni Mubarak’s repressive regime – which resulted in his downfall – were particularly concentrated around Tahrir Square. Much of the existing literature focuses on aspects such as technology and social media, pivotal in what is often termed the ‘Facebook Revolution’. This article offers an alternative and innovative perspective, focusing on the role and dynamics of emotions within the early amplification of protests in Tahrir Square, conceptualising their transformative function. This includes mobilisation, transforming individuals from passive to active, and binding, transforming individuals into collectives and connecting them to space via political performance, thus driving protests. Utilising academic articles, contemporary news reports, and other multimedia sources, including a documentary called ‘The Square’, this article seeks to address gaps in the existing literature and provides a basis for future emotion-centric studies of protest events in other countries in the MENA region.