Copts of Egypt: Defiance, Compliance, and Continuity in Christianity and Freedom

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Author: Mariz Tadros

Publisher/Publication: Cambridge University Press

DOI/ISBN: 9781316408643

The aim of this article is to examine both the relations between the Coptic and Muslim communities in Egypt from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century, as well as to analyze the evolution of the concept of identity in Egyptian politics. As a result, the author focuses on the religious undertones of the divide in Egyptian society between Copts and Muslims with regards to the formation of Egyptian national identity. Furthermore, the article studies the origins and impact of the particpation of the Coptic laicity in the Arab uprisings for the advent of a new secular governmental body. As such, the article also chooses to focus on the points which unite both communities concerning human and civil rights. Nonetheless, the disparity related to religious differences and sectarization incidents are not left out of the loop and help accentuate the ever present divide within Egyptian society.