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Bread, Freedom, Social Justice

Bread, Freedom, Social Justice

Anne Alexander | Mostafa Bassiouny

(2014)

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Book Details

Abstract

Accounts of the Arab Spring often focus on the role of youth coalitions, the use of social media, and the tactics of the Tahrir Square occupation. This authoritative and original book argues that collective action by organised workers played a fundamental role in the Egyptian revolution, which erupted after years of strikes and social protests. Drawing on the authors' decade-long experience of reporting on and researching the Egyptian labour movement, the book provides the first in-depth account of the emergence of independent trade unions and workers' militancy during Mubarak's last years in power, and and their destabilising impact on the post-revolutionary regimes.
'Here at last is a book on Egypt that acknowledges and traces the pivotal role of the workers in the sequence of events that led to the gigantic uprising of January-February 2011, and the subsequent unfolding of the revolutionary process. In a field dominated by studies focusing exclusively on political movements and state apparatus, this is a most welcome and important contribution' Professor Gilbert Achcar, SOAS, University of London, and author of The People Want: A Radical Exploration of the Arab Uprising 'One of the best accounts on the Egyptian revolution, its underlying causes and its aftermath. The book is an accessible and in-depth read for both specialists and non-specialists alike, not only deciphering the workings of one of the most important political events in recent years, but also providing a comprehensive analysis of structural changes in modern Egypt.' Rabab El Mahdi, The American University in Cairo 'In this engaging and immensely readable text, Alexander and Bassiouny confirm their position as two of the most astute observers of Egypt's labour movements. Firmly grounded in recent debates around neoliberalism, capitalism and the Egyptian state - and drawing upon a wealth of fascinating first-hand accounts - this book provides many critical insights into Egyptian workers and their ongoing struggles. It deserves to be very widely read.' Adam Hanieh, SOAS, University of London 'This is an intriguing and detailed account of why the role of the working class needs to be put centre stage in understanding the toppling of Hosni Mubarak. The authors provide insight and analytical rigour in documenting and accounting for the growth and dynamism of independent trade unions in "revolutionary" Egypt. A must read for those who want to know how and why the working class is essential to understanding political and economic crisis in Egypt.' Professor Ray Bush, University of Leeds
Anne Alexander is a research fellow at the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) at the University of Cambridge. She has published widely on Middle Eastern politics, social movements and digital media, and is the author of a biography of Gamal Abdel-Nasser (2005). Mostafa Bassiouny has more than a decade's experience as a reporter and editor in the Egyptian and regional press. He was industrial correspondent for Al-Dustour newspaper between 2005 and 2010, reporting on the mass strikes by textile workers in Mahalla al-Kubra in 2006 and 2007, and the uprising which rocked the town in 2008. He reported on the overthrow of Ben Ali in Tunisia in January 2011 before returning to Egypt to participate in the uprising against Mubarak. Between 2011 and 2014 he was Head of News for liberal daily Al-Tahrir and is currently Egypt correspondent for the Lebanese daily Al-Safir.

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Front Cover Front cover
About the Authors ii
Title Page iii
Copyright iv
Contents v
Tables and Figures vii
Acknowledgements ix
Acronyms and Abbreviations xii
Introduction: From the Republic of Tahrir to the Republic of Fear? Theorising Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Egypt 2011–14 1
States and capitals in the Middle East:some observations 2
Political and social revolutions: preliminary notes 9
Analysing Islamism 15
Reformism and the workers’ movement 23
Towards ‘permanent revolution’? 29
Chapter 1: From Nasserism to Neoliberalism: A New Amalgam of State and Private Capital 35
The rise of Nasserism 37
Infitah and the long crisis of the Nasserist state 45
Structural adjustment: the state withdraws from the Nasserist social contract 48
The reduction of public-sector employment 51
A new amalgam of state and private capital 53
Chapter 2: The Changing Structure of the Egyptian Working Class in the Neoliberal ERA 58
‘Where are the workers?’ 59
Table 2.1 Waged employees and non-waged labour in the total labour force, 1980–2007 62
Figure 2.1 Total employment by status in employment 63
Restructuring the Egyptian working class: global trends 65
Table 2.2 The growing private sector, 1980–2004 66
Table 2.3 Economic sectors: value added 67
Table 2.4 Non-agricultural paid employment as a proportion of total employment, 1980–2007 68
Table 2.5 Economically active population relative to total population 69
Table 2.6 Women as a proportion of the total employed workforce, selected sectors 70
Table 2.7 Women’s weekly wages in the lowest-paying sectors, 2007 70
Manufacturing: decline, renewal, relocation 71
Table 2.8 Employment in manufacturing and value added, 1983–2007 73
Decomposition of the Nasserist model of manufacturing 73
Spatial restructuring: the growth of the new industrial cities 76
Transport and communications 78
Table 2.9 Increase in goods exports and imports, 1980–2010 82
Table 2.10 Suez Canal: brief yearly statistics, 2000–2013 82
Table 2.11 Egypt: number of inbound tourism arrivals and receipts 83
Table 2.12 State-employed transport and communications workers 84
The expansion and proletarianisation of the white-collar public sector: the example of education workers 86
Table 2.13 Economic sectors employing the largest proportion of employees 87
Figure 2.2 Weekly wages in selected economic sectors, 1999–2007 88
Figure 2.3 Weekly wages in selected economic sectors, 1985–2007 89
Precarious workers, informal economy? 91
Conclusion: unevenness and combination 94
Chapter 3: Strikes, Protests and the Development of a Revolutionary Crisis 97
The Misr Spinning strike of December 2006: a turning point 101
A new culture of protest 103
The transformation of workers’ collective action 106
Table 3.1 Episodes and forms of workers’ collective action, 1998–2010 108
Figure 3.1 Episodes of workers’ collective action, 1998–2010 109
Figure 3.2 Geographical distribution of strikes and workers’ protests, February 2007 110
Rediscovery of the strike 113
‘These are liberated territories’ 115
Mahalla: towards the 2008 uprising 118
Conclusion 121
Chapter 4: Organisation in the Workplace Before the Revolution: the Nasserist Model in Crisis 125
The Egyptian Trade Union Federation: from hegemony to paralysis 128
The origins and form of the ETUF 130
The ruling party’s machine 131
The ETUF as gatekeeper to the electoral arena 133
The ETUF’s response to neoliberalism 136
Workplace union committees: an exception? 139
The state of the federation during Mubarak’s last years 144
Figure 4.1 ETUF membership decline in a context of workforce growth, 2003–2011 146
The ETUF’s waning influence within the state 147
Political opposition, economic accommodation and the rise of an alternative from below 150
Conclusion 154
Chapter 5: From Strike Committee to Independent Union 157
The property tax collectors’ strike 161
From strike committee to independent union 166
Table 5.1 Provincial committees of the independent union of workers in the property tax authority, December 2008 169
The development of other independent union networks 172
The contradictions of trade unionism 180
Beyond the workplace: opportunities and problems 182
Conclusion 188
Chapter 6: The Revolution’s Social Soul: Workers and the January Revolution 192
Dynamics of the uprising: workers and the Republic of Tahrir 195
The social and the political during ‘the 18 Days’ 202
The Egyptian revolution between Mubarak and Morsi 204
Strikes undermine the military-Islamist consensus 208
Table 6.1 The growing wave of collective action in 2011 211
Table 6.2 Analysis of patterns of workers’ demands, March–September 2011 212
Table 6.3 The rise in demands for tathir, March–September 2011 213
The battle for the streets 215
A surge of social protest against the Brotherhood in power 219
Table 6.4 Analysis of protests, February–May 2013 221
Chapter 7: Workers’ Organisations since the Revolution 224
Strike organisation since the revolution 228
Strike organisation and union formation during the revolution 233
The emergence of the national federations 240
Table 7.1 EFITU registered unions by sector, October 2011 242
Trade-union bureaucracy in the independent unions 243
The revival of the ETUF 246
Conclusion: the limits of trade-unionism and the search for a political voice 251
Chapter 8: The Crisis of Representation: Workers and Elections 252
The reconfiguration of electoral politics after the fall of Mubarak 255
Workers in the 2011–12 parliamentary elections 257
From parliament to the presidential palace 260
How did workers campaign and vote in the presidential elections? 265
A swift and bitter end to the Brotherhood’s honeymoon 271
The crisis over the constitution 273
The crisis of electoral legitimacy and the road to 30 June 279
Chapter 9: Tathir: The Struggle to Cleanse the State 284
The Officers’ Republic and the military’s grip on the ‘shallow state’ 286
Cleansing the state: alternative perspectives 289
Re-imagining the public sector from below 292
Workers on the frontline of the battle against the Officers’ Republic 298
The ‘Brotherhoodisation’ of the state? 304
From ‘Rebellion’ to compromise: Nasserism 2.0 310
Tathir from below: a provisional balance sheet 314
Conclusion: Beyond the Republic of Dreams: revolutionary organisation, democracy and the question of the state 319
The problem of democracy 322
Problems of revolutionary organisation 327
Notes 330
Bibliography 358
Index 378