Anne Alexander

Topics of Interest:
Workers’ Movements, Political Economy of Communication, Activist Journalism

Countries/Regions of Interest:
Egypt, Iraq, Tunisia, the Gulf states

List of Publications

Selected Publications:
*2015      *‘ISIS and counter-revolution: towards a Marxist analyis’, *International Socialism Journal*, 145 (January 2015).

*2014      **Bread, Freedom, Social Justice: Workers and the Egyptian Revolution* (with Mostafa Bassiouny), London, Zed

*2014      *‘Egypt’s Unfinished Revolution: The Role of the Media Revisited’ (with Miriyam Aouragh). *International Journal of Communication *International Journal of Communication 8, 890–915

*2013       ‘*Analysing Activist Cultures in the Egyptian Workers’ Movement.’ In J. Howell, ed. *Non-Governmental Public Action and Social Justice*. Palgrave Macmillan.

*2012       ‘*Storming the ramparts of tyranny: Egypt and Iraq 1945-63.’ In *Arms and the People: Popular Movements and the Military from the Paris Commune
to the Arab Spring*. London: Pluto Press

*2011       ‘*Brothers-in-arms? The Egyptian military, the Ikhwan and the revolutions of 1952 and 2011’, *The Journal of North African Studies*, 16(4), pp.533–554

*2011*       (with Miriyam Aouragh) ‘The Egyptian Experience: Sense and Nonsense of the Internet Revolution’. *International Journal of Communication*, 5

*2011       *‘Digital Generation’ In Z. Sardar & R. Yassin-Kassab, eds. *Critical Muslim 1: The Arabs are alive*. London: C Hurst & Co Publishers.

*2010*       ‘Leadership and collective action in the Egyptian trade unions’, *Work, employment and society*, Vol 24, No. 2.

*2009*       ‘Mubarak in the international arena’ in Philip Marfleet and Rabab el-Mahdi (eds.), *Egypt**: the moment of change*, (Zed, 2009) pp136-150. (Reprinted 2009, American University in Cairo Press)

*2008*       ‘Political opportunities and collective action in the Iraqi revolution 1958-9’, *International Journal of Contemporary Iraqi Studies*, Vol 2. No.2 , pp251-269.

*2005*       *Nasser*. London and Cairo: Haus and American University in Cairo Press, 186pp.

I am currently a research fellow at the University of Cambridge, where I co-ordinate the Digital Humanities Network. My research interests are varied, ranging from the labour movement in Egypt (which was the subject of my recent co-authored book, *Bread, Freedom, Social Justice*) to the political economy of digital communication and in particular the rise of ‘big data’ as ideology and practice in contemporary capitalism. I am also interested in how activists who want to challenge the existing political and social system use journalism and make media, and am currently working on a research project with Sameh Naguib exploring how Egyptian activists opposed to the military regime contest the ideology of the counter-revolution in transnational media spaces.

I sometimes own up to having taught in several Politics departments (Exeter, SOAS and Cambridge) and occasionally confess to an interest in (and critique of social movement theory). More recently I tend to feign an interest in media studies, digital methods and critical data studies. Despite this track-record of academic indiscipline, I am probably still a historian at heart, having studied the anti-colonial movements in Egypt and Iraq after World War 2 for my doctoral dissertation.

In addition to my academic work, I also write for Socialist Worker newspaper, Socialist Review and am on the editorial board of International Socialism Journal. I co-edit a new magazine called Middle East Solidarity, which is co-published by Bahrain Watch and MENA Solidarity.

Before I started my PhD I worked as a researcher and journalist at BBC for several years.