The Roots of Revolt
A Political Economy of Egypt from Nasser to Mubarak

A conceptually rich, historically informed study of the contested politics emerging out of decades of authoritarian neoliberalism in Egypt.

Angela Joya (Author)

9781108478366, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 2 April 2020

280 pages, 7 b/w illus. 1 table
23.4 x 15.7 x 1.9 cm, 0.5 kg

'Joya's contribution is one of the most interesting attempts to enrich our understanding of how the composition of the Egyptian capitalist class and the relative strength of its fractions changed over time … an opening for further research.' Gianni Del Panta, The Middle East Journal

A conceptually rich, historically informed, and interdisciplinary study of the contentious politics emerging out of decades of authoritarian neoliberal economic reform, The Roots of Revolt examines the contested political economy of Egypt from Nasser to Mubarak, just prior to the Arab Uprisings of 2010–11. Based on extensive fieldwork conducted across rural and urban Egypt, Angela Joya employs an 'on the ground' approach to critical political economy that challenges the interpretations of Egyptian politics put forward by scholars of both democratization and authoritarianism. By critically reassessing the relationship between democracy and capitalist development, Joya demonstrates how renewed authoritarian politics were required to institutionalize neoliberal reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund, presenting the real-world impact of economic policy on the lives of ordinary Egyptians before the Arab Uprisings.

1. Neoliberal authoritarianism in contemporary Egypt
2. The developmentalist state and the market economy: from Nasser to Sadat
3. 'We need the government to unleash us, the tigers': Mubarak and the neoliberal turn
4. 'We feed the nation': the military as a fraction of capital
5. The mosque and the market: the Muslim Brotherhood
6. 'Strike like an Egyptian': workers and the collapse of the authoritarian bargain
7. 'You let the dogs eat the peasants': peasants and small farmers and accumulation by dispossession
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP], Central government policies [JPQB], Middle Eastern history [HBJF1]