In this volume of Cairo Papers in Social Science, researcher Solava Ibrahim explores the relationship between poverty reduction, local administration, and empowerment in Egypt. Examining the link between poverty, participation, and local administration in three governorates—Alexandria, Kafr al-Sheikh, and Assiut—Ibrahim argues that an inadequate system of local administration in Egypt discourages participation, thus hindering sustainable poverty reduction. Comparing the incidence of poverty, the Human Development Index, and level of participation in the three regions, Ibrahim’s research reveals a reversed relationship between poverty and electoral participation. Additionally, the sharp decline in female representation in local councils indicates their failure to empower the poorest segments of society, including women. Acknowledging the vicious circle of bad administration in Egypt, the study analyzes some previous attempts to achieve sustainable poverty reduction, and concludes with a number of recommendations for improvement as a way to encourage empowerment and reduce poverty in Egypt.
The Role of Local Councils in Empowerment and Poverty Reduction in Egypt
Cairo Papers Vol. 27, No. 3
Solava Ibrahim
103 pp.
14X21cm
ISBN 9789774160141
For sale worldwide
$16.95
Related products
Beyond the Exotic
Women’s Histories in Islamic Societies
Edited by Amira al-Azhary SonbolMost manifestations, research has accepted stereotypical images of Muslim women, treating their outward such as veiling, as passive and oppressive. Muslim women have been depicted as different, and by exoticizing (orientalizing) them—or Islamic society in general—“they” have been dealt with outside of general women’s history and regarded as having little to contribute to the writing of world history or to the life of their sisters worldwide. By approaching widely used sources with different questions and methodologies, and by using new or little-used research (with much primary research), this book redresses these deficiencies. Scholars revisit and reevaluate scripture and scriptural interpretation; church records involving non-Muslim women of the Arab world; archival court records dating from the present back to the Ottoman period; and the oral and material culture and its written record, including art and architecture, oral history, textbooks, Sufi practices, and the politics of dress. By deconstructing the past, these scholars offer fresh perspectives on women’s roles and aspirations in Middle East societies. Contributors: Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, Sheila S. Blair, Randi Deguilhem, Mamoun Fandy, Richard Freeland, Fatima Zohra Guechi, Nelly Hanna, Howayda al-Harithy, Mervat F. Hatem, Bernard Heyberger, Valerie J. Hoffman, Haifaa Khalafallah, Ramadan al-Khowli, Patricia Mihaly Nabti, Lisa Pollard, Mona Russell, Elyse Semerdjian, Selçuk Aksin Somel, Amira El-Azhary Sonbol, Denise A. Spellberg, Barbara Freyer Stowasser, Judith E. Tucker, Fariba Zarinebaf, Madeline Zilfi.
...read more
Paperback
562 pp.15.5X23.5cm
$29.95
Cairo Contested
Governance, Urban Space, and Global Modernity
Edited by Diane SingermanThis cross-disciplinary, ethnographic, contextualized, and empirical volume explores the meaning and significance of urban space, and maps the spatial inscription of power on the mega-city of Cairo. Suspicious of collective life and averse to power-sharing, Egyptian governance structures weaken but do not stop the public’s role in the remaking of their city. What happens to a city where neo-liberalism has scaled back public services and encouraged the privatization of public goods, while the vast majority cannot afford the effects of such policies? Who wins and loses in the “march to the modern and the global” as the government transforms urban spaces and markets in the name of growth, security, tourism, and modernity? How do Cairenes struggle with an ambiguous and vulnerable legal and bureaucratic environment when legality is a privilege affordable only to the few or the connected? This companion volume to Cairo Cosmopolitan (2006) further develops the central insights of the Cairo School of Urban Studies. Contributors: Khaled Adham, Jennifer Bell, Agnès Deboulet, Taline Djerdjerian, W.J. Dorman, Bénédicte Florin, Jörg Gertel, Katarzyna Grabska, Patrick Haenni, Kareem Ibrahim, Samia Mehrez, Sarah Ben Néfissa, Agnieszka Paczynska, Samuli Schielke, Mulki Al-Sharmani, Diane Singerman, Hania Sobhy, Malika Zeghal.
...read more
15 October 2009
Hardbound
536 pp.15X23cm
$34.95
Agrarian Transformation in the Arab World: Persistent and Emerging Challenges
Cairo Papers Vol. 32, No. 2
Edited by Habib AyebReem Saad
This collection of essays revisits agrarian transformation in Arab countries in the light of new realities and emerging challenges. Apart from the urgency of the deepening food crisis, such realities include environmental challenges, changes in consumption and life-style choices, and a new set of rules governing the conditions of access to resources. The issue investigates the commonality and diversity in the current processes of agrarian transformation, based on empirical case studies from different Arab countries.
...read more
31 January 2014
Paperback
176 pp.14.2X21.6cm
$19.95
Arab Spring in Egypt
Revolution and Beyond
Edited by Bahgat KoranyRabab El-Mahdi
Beginning in Tunisia, and spreading to as many as seventeen Arab countries, the street protests of the ‘Arab Spring’ in 2011 empowered citizens and banished their fear of speaking out against governments. The Arab Spring belied Arab exceptionalism, widely assumed to be the natural state of stagnation in the Arab world amid global change and progress. The collapse in February 2011 of the regime in the region’s most populous country, Egypt, led to key questions of why, how, and with what consequences did this occur? Inspired by the “contentious politics” school and Social Movement Theory, Arab Spring in Egypt addresses these issues, examining the reasons behind the collapse of Egypt’s authoritarian regime; analyzing the group dynamics in Tahrir Square of various factions: labor, youth, Islamists, and women; describing economic and external issues and comparing Egypt’s transition with that of Indonesia; and reflecting on the challenges of transition. “Its analysis is as fresh as the breathtaking events it covers.”—Nathan Brown, George Washington University “Arab Spring in Egypt is a modern history study that brings much greater understanding to light about the views of modern Arab people and the future they see for their country.”—Midwest Book Review
...read more
1 September 2014
Paperback
364 pp.15X23cm
$24.95