“The Rise and Fall of the Tahrir Repertoire: Theorizing Temporality, Trajectory, and Failure.”

This article examines how and why the strategy of occupying Tahrir Square went from being the central mode of action and defining image of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 to an ineffective strategy read by many as symbolic of the revolution’s ultimate failure during the transitional period of 2011–2012. This question speaks to a lacuna in the literature on repertoires, specifically a lack of attention to their temporality and the lessons to be learned from their failure. I propose a framework that looks instead at the trajectory of repertoires and traces their 1) meaning, 2) internal composition, 3) relationality vis-à-vis the regime in relation to which the repertoire is practiced, and 4) temporal momentum. Using this framework, I chart the rise and fall of the Tahrir repertoire in a very short period: from February 12, 2011 to December 5, 2012. The article draws on ethnographic, qualitative, and historical data collected over three research trips: the first, overlapping with the revolution, from February 4 to April 16, 2011; the second, from July 16, 2013 to January 6, 2014; and the third, from December 16, 2014 to January 7, 2015.