Revolutionaries can refuse elections as legitimating the state they seek to topple
Evidence
Other revolutionaries called for a boycott of the vote. For some, the point was never to “represent” the people with new repressive structures at all. Hossam “3arabawy” el-Hamalawy, the revolutionary socialist, believed in seizing state power, but he thought that the uprising was still underway, and the priority was to remove SCAF, not legitimize their rule by taking part in their elections. They had been successful in organizing strikes since the fall of Mubarak, and it was obvious to him that the revolution still controlled the streets. — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn, 305
Categorization
- DEFINE: Illustrates the tactical logic behind election boycotts: that participation legitimizes the very structures one wants to replace.
- XREF: connects to: A state can defuse revolt by denying radicals the repression that mobilizes masses. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 105; A state can defuse revolution by restraining provocation and waiting out empty rhetoric.; Ordinary people’s refusal can topple even entrenched systems of power — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1661 (+3 more)
Broader Connections
- Some revolutionaries spoilt ballots to reject both the military council and the Brotherhood
#exemplifies(0.90) — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn, 305 - Ordinary people’s refusal can topple even entrenched systems of power
#corroborates(0.82) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1661 - Direct collective refusal reveals the contingency of official power.
#expands(0.82) — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up, 435 - Horizontal protest movements that refuse representation get co-opted or crushed by existing powers
#complicates(0.80) — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn, 444 - A state can defuse revolt by denying radicals the repression that mobilizes masses.
#complicates(0.78) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 105 - A state can defuse revolution by restraining provocation and waiting out empty rhetoric.
#complicates(0.75)