I am sure many of you have (unfortunately) been exposed to the proliferation of “Harlem Shake” videos out there. In fact, UBC students created  our very own “Harlem Shake” video less than a month ago. While most of these bizarre group videos are nothing more than a source of amusement, laughter and incredulity, the Harlem shaking that’s going on in the Arab world is causing concern among its leaders as a “potent symbol of protest, revolt and defiance” (Jason Miks, “Harlem Shaking the Arab World?” Global Public Square, CNN).

The videos appearing in Tunisia and Egypt are not recognizably different from those which we see being produced all over the place in North America (note the 20 or so different iterations of “UBC Harlem Shake” on YouTube), the corresponding government responses, and respective backlashes have made them into a video protest of sorts. The authorities’ initial responses to the first Harlem Shake videos in Tunisia and Egypt set off big reactions and prompted backlashes that have gone viral online. Miks seems to think that this is a demonstration of the value of American cultural exports, but I don’t think that a particularly profound message is being spread when shirtless men perform pelvic thrusts. What do you think? Is Harlem shaking indeed shaking up the Arab world?