The Egyptian Revolution: “The people want the downfall of the system”¶
Core Argument¶
Here, Alan Woods analyses the rapid, dialectical shifts in the Egyptian Revolution of early 2011, arguing that the mass mobilisations of 4 February—the “Day of Departure”—represented a decisive turning point driven by the class dynamics of the struggle. Woods contends that the revolution’s trajectory cannot be understood through static analysis; instead, it must be grasped as a series of violent swings in consciousness, where the inertia of the backward layers is overcome by the courage of the advanced guard. The brutal counterrevolutionary onslaught of the previous day, far from crushing the movement, provided the “whip” that propelled it forward. Woods describes how Mubarak’s attempt to play on the innate conservatism of the middle classes—promising reform while threatening chaos—initially gained traction. The critical moment came when Mubarak’s bussed-in thugs failed to dislodge the revolutionaries from Tahrir Square after seven hours of street fighting. This defeat of the counterrevolution, broadcast live on Al Jazeera, shattered illusions in Mubarak’s promises and swung wavering layers decisively toward the revolution. Woods cites the example of a man who arrived at the square having believed the protesters were foreign agents, only to join them after seeing the truth for himself.
Woods places the revolution in its historical and theoretical context, drawing on Marx’s observation that revolution needs the whip of counterrevolution and Newton’s concept of inertia to explain how mass consciousness is transformed. The chapter is sharply polemical. Woods attacks the claim—pushed by Washington, the CIA, and the Israelis—that the movement is an Islamist front led by the Muslim Brotherhood. He insists the Brotherhood was taken by surprise and played a negligible role; the leading force was the secular youth of the 6 April movement. He also denounces the US plan for a “meaningful transition” that would replace Mubarak with his intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, a man “of the CIA and of Israel,” as a cynical deception to preserve the old regime. Woods warns against the bourgeois liberals—the Wafd party, Mohamed ElBaradei—who will haggle with the regime for positions. The placard reading “The people want the downfall of the system” is held up as evidence of the masses’ correct political instinct: they reject not just Mubarak but the entire apparatus of state repression and imperialist-backed oligarchy. Woods concludes by calling for the dismantling of the old state, popular tribunals, a people’s militia, and a purge of all corrupt officials, insisting that the revolution must be carried through to the end.