Overview
The Arab Spring uprisings turned from ‘Spring of Hope’ to ‘Winter of Despair’. Egypt returned to authoritarian rule with the consolidation of Al Sisi's regime - despite the deepening economic crisis, currency devaluation and staggering inflation (reaching 40% in Aug 2023). How did these rapid economic and political changes in Egypt affect people living in poverty? This talk seeks to address this question through a grounded approach to articulate people’s voices, explore their failed aspirations, and examine their changing relationship with the state.
This talk argues that the heavy-handed nature of Sisi’s regime led to an even more authoritarian social contract whereby people are forced to forgo their socioeconomic and political rights in return for political stability. This talk also critically examines key features of Sisi’s ‘New Republic’ to explain how it controls social, political, and digital spaces, restricting people’s ability to mobilise over socio-economic or political grievances.
The talk draws on a study conducted in two deprived communities in Egypt: rural villages in Menia and Manshiet Nasser, an urban squatter area in Cairo, between 2006 and 2016. It reveals that – despite growing dissatisfaction with Al Sisi’s regime – people are reluctant to engage in different forms of popular contestation because they blame the popular uprisings and their resulting political instability – rather than the regime – for their deepening economic suffering! Through its ‘New Republic’ rhetoric, the regime propagates a new authoritarian social contract. Why and how people settle for this and for how much longer – are key questions this talk answers.
Speaker
Solava Ibrahim is Associate Professor of Politics, Development and International Relations and Course Director of the MA in International Relations and MA in International Development at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.
She has been affiliated lecturer at the Centre of Development Studies at the University of Cambridge and a High Table member at Newham College.
Her main research areas include the politics of poverty reduction and inequality, human development, political transformation, gender, political Islam, governance and grassroots democracy in the Middle East.
This talk is on her forthcoming book on Wellbeing and Aspirations in Egypt after the Arab Spring: Does Politics matter? (Routledge Publishers).
Details
This is a hybrid event, which will take place in-person in the Gatsby Room (Chancellor's Centre) and also on Zoom.
If you would like to attend online, please register for the Zoom link.
Refreshments will be available for the in-person audience.
Access
This event will take place in Gatsby Room on the first floor of the Chancellor's Centre. It has step-free access with a lift and there is an accessible toilet located each floor of the building.
Wolfson Humanities Society
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