Egypt: The Moment of Change PDF
Preview Egypt: The Moment of Change
Egypt Egypt the Moment of Change Edited by Rabab El-Mahdi & Philip Marfleet Zed Books london new york Egypt: The Moment of Change was first published in 2009 by Zed Books Ltd, 7 Cynthia Street, London n1 9jf, uk and Room 400, 175 Fifth Avenue, New york, ny 10010, usa www.zedbooks.co.uk Editorial Copyright © Rabab El-Mahdi and philip Marfleet 2009 Copyright in this collection © Zed Books 2009 the rights of Rabab El-Mahdi and philip Marfleet to be identified as the authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and patents Act, 1988 Designed and typeset in Monotype Janson by illuminati, grosmont, www.illuminatibooks.co.uk Cover designed by Lucy Morton @ illuminati Index by philip Marfleet Cover photograph © Joan Bellver Cert no. SGS-COC-2953 printed and bound in great Britain by CpI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne Distributed in the USA exclusively by palgrave Macmillan, a division of St Martin’s press, llc, 175 Fifth Avenue, New york, ny 10010, usa All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of Zed Books Ltd. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in publication Data available isbn 978 1 84813 020 3 Hb isbn 978 1 84813 021 0 pb isbn 978 1 84813 504 8 Eb Contents glossary vii preface and acknowledgements ix Introduction 1 Rabab El-Mahdi & Philip Marfleet 1 State and society 14 Philip Marfleet 2 Economic policy: from state control to decay and corruption 34 Ahmad El-Sayed El-Naggar 3 the land and the people 51 Ray Bush 4 Workers’ struggles under ‘socialism’ and neoliberalism 68 Joel Beinin 5 the democracy movement: cycles of protest 87 Rabab El-Mahdi 6 Islamism(s) old and new 103 Sameh Naguib 7 torture: a state policy 120 Aida Seif El-Dawla 8 Mubarak in the international arena 136 Anne Alexander Conclusion: What’s next? 151 Rabab El-Mahdi & Philip Marfleet Notes 156 References 164 Contributors 180 Index 182 glossary Terms and names in Arabic awqaf religious endowments (sing. waqf) aysh bread; aysh baladi (made with wholewheat flour); asysh shami (made with white flour) feddan measurement of land area: 0.42 hectare, or 1.038 acres fellah peasant, farmer (pl. fellahin) fuul fava beans gallabeyya loose-fitting male/female garment halat al-tawari’ state of emergency hijab headscarf for women iftar meal that breaks Ramadan fast after sunset infitah opening; al-infitah al-iqtisadi – economic opening intifada uprising, upheaval jihad striving, exertion, fight, war manabir pulpits (sing. minbar) niqab cloth covering the face al-nizam the system pasha senior rank in the Ottoman political system; used in Egypt until 1952 sharia laws of Islam shura consultation; also the name of the upper house of the Egyptian parliament viii Egypt State agencies, political parties and movements Amn al-Markazi Central Security Force – CSF Gama’at Islamiyya Islamic groups (variously called gama’a Islamiya, al-Jamaat al-Islamiya, al-gama’a al-Islamiyya) al-Harakat al-Tag’eer Movements for Change al-Hay’aat al-Tahrir Liberation Agency Hamla Sha’biya min Agl al-Tag’eer popular Campaign for Change al-Hizb al-Watani al-Dimuqrati National Democratic party (NDp) al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin Muslim Brotherhood al-Ittihad al-Ishtiraqi Socialist Union al-Ittihad al-Qawmi National Union Jihaz Amn al-Dawla State Security Service Jihaz al-Amn al-Qawmi National Security Service Kifaya Enough! Slogan of the Egyptian Movement for Change and name by which it is usually known Majlis al-Shaab people’s Assembly (lower house of parliament) Majlis al-Shura Shura Council (upper house of parliament) Mabaheth Amn al-Dawla general Directorate of State Security Investigations al-Mukhabarat al-Aama general Intelligence and Security Service al-Mukhabarat al-Harbeya Military Intelligence Service Nadi al-Quda Judges’ Club al-Tagammu’ National progressive Unionist party Wafd ‘Delegation’ party Abbreviations and acronyms ANHRI Arabic Network for Human Rights Information ASU Arab Socialist Union EAAt Egyptian Association Against torture EOHR Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights ERSAp Economic Reform and Structural Adjustment programme EtUF al-Ittihad al-‘Amm li-Niqabat ‘Ummal Misr, Egyptian trade Union Federation (also known as EFtU) IFI international financial institution LCHR Land Center for Human Rights NDp National Democratic party NEpAD New partnership for Africa’s Development UNHCR Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees preface and acknowledgements this book examines economy, politics and society at a key moment in modern Egyptian history. But its point of departure is not the economy or political system as such; rather, it is the active engage- ment of Egyptians attempting urgently to bring change in their own lives and as part of projects for wider social transformation. In the 1970s Egypt became a laboratory for economic changes later imposed worldwide as part of the neoliberal agenda for development. the outcome has been striking, providing important long-term evi- dence of how ‘marketisation’ affects society at large. While a minority of Egyptians have accumulated unprecedented wealth, the mass of people experience greater poverty and insecurity; at the same time they are victims of a suffocating autocracy. Like many states of the global South, Egypt is ruled by a regime committed both to the ‘free’ market and to the denial of political reform. It is in this context that scores of millions of Egyptians struggle to meet basic needs and to secure fundamental rights. there is a dearth of information and analysis on Egypt for the general reader. this book attempts to tackle the deficit; at the same time it seeks to bring together materials of interest to academics, re- searchers, students and others concerned directly with Egypt and the Middle East, and with issues of change in the global South. It draws
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