Tahrir Square, From Place to Space: The Geography of Representation

Due to its role in the Egyptian Revolution, Tahrir Square in Cairo became synonymous with the Arab Spring. During the protests it was transformed from a physical place into a symbolic space and then into an abstract space. This article follows the stages of the square's transformation and aims to expose the implications that this transformation has on public discourse and on the political legitimacy that abstract spaces might bestow on regimes in general, and particularly in Egypt.