Table Of Content|
The Roots of Revolt
Aconceptuallyrich,historicallyinformed,andinterdisciplinarystudyof
thecontentiouspoliticsemergingoutofdecadesofauthoritarianneolib-
eraleconomicreform,TheRootsofRevoltexaminesthecontestedpolit-
ical economy of Egypt from Nasser to Mubarak, just prior to the Arab
Uprisings of 2010-11. Based on extensive fieldwork conducted across
ruralandurbanEgypt,AngelaJoyaemploysan‘ontheground’approach
to critical political economy that challenges the interpretations of Egyp-
tian politics put forward by scholars of both democratization and
authoritarianism.Bycriticallyreassessingtherelationshipbetweendem-
ocracy and capitalist development, Joya demonstrates how renewed
authoritarianpoliticswererequiredtoinstitutionalizeneoliberalreforms
demandedbytheInternationalMonetaryFund,presentingtherealworld
impact of economic policy on the lives of ordinary Egyptians before the
ArabUprisings.
angela joya is Assistant Professor of International Studies at the
University of Oregon. Her research focuses on the impact of neoliberal
globalization on the lives of workers and peasants. She is currently
researching grassroots responses and alternative models of development
amongthe anti-extractivist movementsinNorthAfrica. Sheisthe author
of numerous articles in journals such as British Journal of Middle East
Studies, Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Mediterra-
neanPolitics,InternationalJournalofMiddleEastStudiesandReviewof
AfricanPoliticalEconomyandhasconductedfieldworkinEgypt,Tunisia,
Palestine,JordanandTurkey,GreeceandFrance.
The Roots of Revolt
A Political Economy of Egypt from
Nasser to Mubarak
angela joya
UniversityofOregon
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108478366
DOI:10.1017/9781108777537
©AngelaJoya2020
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Joya,Angela,1980-author.|CambridgeUniversityPress.
Title:Therootsofrevolt:apoliticaleconomyofEgyptfromNassertoMubarak/
AngelaJoya.
Othertitles:PoliticaleconomyofEgyptfromNassertoMubarak
Description:FirstEdition.|NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,2020.|
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2019038886(print)|LCCN2019038887(ebook)|
ISBN9781108478366(Hardback)|ISBN9781108745758(Paperback)|
ISBN9781108777537(ePUB)
Subjects:LCSH:Protestmovements–Egypt–History–21stcentury.|
Self-immolation–Politicalaspects–Egypt.|Egypt–History–Protests,2011–2013.|
Egypt–Socialconditions–21stcentury.|Egypt–Politicsandgovernment–21stcentury.|
ArabSpring,2010-
Classification:LCCDT107.87J692020(print)|LCCDT107.87(ebook)|
DDC962.05/5–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2019038886
LCebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2019038887
ISBN978-1-108-47836-6Hardback
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Contents
List of Figures and Tables pagevii
Acknowledgements viii
1 Neoliberal Authoritarianism inContemporary Egypt 1
ThePurposeandScopeoftheStudy 1
CapitalismandDemocracyinMubarak’sEgypt 3
ResilientAuthoritarianismandNetworksofPrivilege 9
CapitalismagainstDemocracy 11
AccumulationbyDispossession 15
Class,StateandSocietyintheMiddleEast 21
FromDispossessiontoResistancetoRevolt 32
Sources 34
StructureoftheBook 35
2 The Developmentalist State and the Market
Economy: FromNasser toSadat 37
FromIndependencetoArabSocialism 37
TheContradictionsandLimitsofArabSocialism 49
EconomicLiberalizationunderAnwarSadat 52
Class,PropertyandStatePower 61
CrisisandConflict:TheOutcomesofInfitah 63
Conclusion 66
3 “We Need the Government to Unleash Us,
the Tigers”:Mubarak and the Neoliberal Turn 68
Accumulation,DispossessionandtheTransformationoftheState 68
TheCrisisofthe1980s 72
TheNeoliberalTurn,1991–1995 76
TheMinisterofthePoor,1996–1999 83
FromCrisistoConsolidation,1999–2004 87
TheGovernmentofBusinessmen,2004–2011 91
NeoliberalClassFormation 96
Conclusion 108
v
vi Contents
4 “WeFeedtheNation”:TheMilitaryasaFractionofCapital 110
TheMilitaryasaClassFraction 110
FromNationalistRevolutiontoInfitah 114
TheMilitaryunderMubarak 120
TheMilitaryandEconomicLiberalization 126
Conclusion 137
5 The Mosque and the Market: The MuslimBrotherhood 139
TheMuslimBrotherhood:Islam,theMarketandthe
MoralEconomy 139
IslamismagainsttheState:TheBrotherhood 143
IslamagainsttheLeft:TheBrotherhoodunderSadat 147
TheBrotherhoodunderMubarak 152
Conclusion 166
6 “Strike like an Egyptian”:Workers and the
Collapse of the Authoritarian Bargain 167
TheCorporatistCompromiseandtheAuthoritarianState 167
LabourMarketDualismandInformalityintheEgyptian
LabourMarket 170
Privatization,LiberalizationandtheDeclineoftheCorporatist
Compromise 174
IncreasedEmployerPower,UnemploymentandInformalityin
theLabourMarket 179
TheRiseofWorkerProtest 186
Conclusion 194
7 “You Let the Dogs Eat thePeasants”:Peasants, Small
Farmers and Accumulation by Dispossession 195
AgriculturalLiberalization 195
AccumulationbyDispossessionandAgrarianChange 197
ContentiousPolitics,CollectiveActionandClassStruggle 224
Conclusion 227
Conclusion 229
EgyptunderMubarak 230
AccumulationbyDispossessionandtheFragmentationof
EgyptianCapital 233
NeoliberalAuthoritarianismandContentiousPolitics 235
Bibliography 237
Index 269
Figures and Tables
Figures
1 Military expenditures, 1990–2010 page 129
2 Manufacturinggrowth rate, 1991–2010 177
3 Public sector employment, 2005–2014 178
4 Unemployment, total (percent oftotal labour force)
(modelled ILO estimate) 183
5 Unemployment,youthtotal(percentoftotallabourforce
ages 15–24) 183
6 Days not worked due tostrikesand lockouts by
economic activity 184
7 Land-based violence inEgypt, 1997–2010 210
Tables
1 The Washington Consensus page 4
vii
Acknowledgements
Iamgratefultomanyorganizationsandindividualsfortheirsupport
overthemanyyearsthatithastakentoresearchandwritethisbook.
When I first began researching the topic of social conflict and social
change in Egypt in 2005 as part of my doctoral thesis, I was sup-
ported by generous grants from the International Development
Research Center (IDRC) as well as the Social Sciences and Human-
ities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). After arriving at the
UniversityofOregonin 2014 asan assistantprofessorinthe depart-
ment of International Studies, I began work on this book. I am
gratefultotheDepartmentofInternationalStudiesandmycolleagues
attheUniversityofOregonfortheirsupportovertheyears.Iamalso
grateful to the University of Oregon’s Underrepresented Minority
Recruitment Program major grant, which allowed me to take time
offteachingandcarryoutfurtherresearchandfieldworkinEgyptin
2014 and after.
Theresearchandwritingofthisbookspannedmanyyears.Whileat
York University, I learned the foundations of critical political econ-
omy,statetheoryandtheoriesofsocialchangefromLeoPanitch,Greg
Albo, David McNally and George Comninel. In the field of Middle
East political economy, I have benefited immensely from the research
andsupportofRayBush,RaymondHinnebuschandAdamHaniehas
colleagues whose works have been insightful as I worked through my
own arguments inthis book.
Over the years, other colleagues in Middle East Studies and critical
international political economy have provided moral support and
encouragement and have either read or listened to aspects of the
arguments developed in this book: Adam Hanieh, Jillian Schwedler,
MarkLeVine,SuneHaugbolle,LaryssaChomiak,KoenBogaert,Sami
Zemni, Habib Ayeb, Ted Swedenberg, Hendrik Kraetzschmar, Paola
Rivetti, Lucia Sorbera, Estella Carpi, Gennario Gervasio, Ashraf El
viii
