Becoming an Ex: Dynamics of Disengagement from Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood after 2011

Abstract

This article explores the disengagement of members from Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood. Following both the 2011 uprising and the 2013 coup, increasing disenchantment with the group’s ideology and political project have led many members to reconsider their commitment to, and membership in, the Brotherhood. While scholarship examining the Brotherhood’s processes of recruitment and forming of collective identity is burgeoning, few works have assessed members’ disengagement from the movement and abandonment of its ideology, or how former members make sense of their “ex” identity. Based on rich, original material and extensive interviews with former Brotherhood members in Egypt, Turkey, the UK, and Qatar, this article investigates how former members seek new meanings and identities. Adopting a processual and discursive perspective on disengagement from the Brotherhood, we identify disengagement as consisting of distinct ideological, political, and affective processes. These processes shape individuals’ strategies for exiting the Brotherhood and forming their new identities as ex-members.