POLS 4422

Contemporary Egypt

Professor Mustapha K. Al Sayyid

Spring 2016

Course Outline

Office hours: Monday and Thursday, 10:00 am-11:30 am.

Office: 2028 Political Science Department, HUSS building.

E-mail:

Teaching Assistant:YasminaElazazy

E-mail:

I. Introduction:

The major focus of this course is post-revolution politics in Egypt. It offers a unique opportunity of reflecting on the difficulties of post-revolutionary change, which was the case of other countries in the Arab world.

II. Objectives:

- Learning how to link theory and concrete case studies

- Defining structures that led to important shifts in Egyptian politics,

- Identifying the agencies that brought these shifts,

- Using actors’ perspectives to understand their actions,

- Identifying other sources that could help explain Egyptian politics,.

- Examining the role of ideology in the Egyptian revolution.

III. Basic readings:

Abou –el-Fadl,Reem,Ed.Revolutionary Egypt. Connecting domestic and international struggles.London and New York.Routledge. 2015

Sadiki,Larbi. Routledge Handbook of the Arab Spring. Rethinking Democratization. London and New York. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.2015..Several chapters

Kandil,Hazem.Soldiers,Spies and Statesmen. Egypt’s Road to revolt.2012

Karl,Terry Lynn. “From Democracy to Democratization and Back.

Tschirgi,Dan. Egypt’s Tahrir Revolution. Boulder and London: Lynne Reiner Publishers.2013.

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. See working papers on Egypt.

Arab Reform Initiative. See working papers on Egypt. Center on Democracy,Development and the Rule of Law. Stanford Institute on International Studies.

IV. Syllabus and readings:

WEEK 1 (January 30 - February 2)

The trajectory of post-revolution Egypt

WEEK 2 (February 6-9)

How to interpret post-revolutionary Egyptian politics/Introduction

Through literature

Read novels by Alaa EL-Aswany,Ezzel Din ShukryFichere,MoahammedSalmawy and others readings:

What political scientists say

Al-Sayyid,M. “What went wrong with Mubarak’s regime” in Dan Tschirgi.Op.cit

Shatz, Adam. “Egypt’s Counter Revolution.” London Review of Books. LRB blog.

Situating what happened in Egypt in a broader context

Readings:

Karl ,Terry Lynn . “From Democracy to Democratization and Back”.

Debate:

What went wrong with the Egyptian revolution?

WEEK 3 (February 13-16)

Structural analysis of causes of Egyptian revolution

a. Economic, social, and political conditions that led to the revolution

Readings:

Alqudsi-Ghabra, Taghreed. "Creative use of Social Media in the Revolutions of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya." International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences. p.147-158. 2012.

Ibrahim, Solava. “A Tale of Two Egypts: contrasting state-reported macro-trends with micro-voices of the poor.” Third World Quarterly.p.1347-1368. 2011.

WEEK 4 (February 20-23)

Revolutionary agency

a. Youth

Readings:

Hafez, Bassem Nabil. "New Social Movements and the Egyptian Spring: A Comparative Analysis between the Apil 6 Movement and the Revolutionary Socialists." Perspectives on Global Development and Technology. p.98-113. 2013.

Sullivan,Earl(Tim).”Youth Power and the Revolution” in Dan Tschirgi.Pp.67-87.

Debate:

Could the young revolutionaries have done better?

WEEK 5 (February 27- March 2)

b. Islamists:

Readings:

Surf through the site Ikhwanonline

Laub,Zachary.Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood.Council on Foreign Relations.Janaury 2014.

Hoigilt,Jacob & Frida Nome.” Egyptian Salafism in Revolution” Journal of Islamic Studies.Jan.2014,VOl.25.Issue 1.p.33-54

Debate:

Assessing Morsi’s Presidency

c. The Army

Readings:

Kandil,Hazem. Soldiers,Spies and Statesmen.Op.cit.Chs.5&6. 2012.

Ketchley, Neil. "The army and the people are one hand!" Fraternization and the 25th January Egyptian Revolution. Comparative Studies in Society and History. p. 155-186. 2014.

Debate:

Presidential Elections in Egypt: conditions and candidates.

WEEK 6 (March 6-9)

d. Liberal political parties:

Readings:

Carothers,Tom. “Ëgypt’s Dismal Opposition: A second look”. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. May 2013

Gerbaudo,Paolo,”The Impermanent revolution:The Organizational Fragility of the Egyptian Prodemocracy Movement in the Troubled Transition”.Social Justice 2013.Vol.39. Issue 1,Pp.8-23.

Krajeski, Jenna. “Beyond TahrirSquare: Can Egypt’s Liberals survive in the Post-Mubarak Era”. World Policy Journal. June 2011, vol. 28. Pp. 289-299.

WEEK 7 (March 13-16)

e. The masses

Readings:

Beinin, Joel. “Egyptian Workers and January 25th: A Social Movement in Historical Context.” Social Research. p. 3 323-348. 2012.

Bremer, Jennifer Ann. Leadership and Collective Action in Egypt's Popular Committees: Emergence of Authentic Civic Activism in the Absence of the State." International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law. p. 70-92. 2011.

Idle, Nada; Nunns, Alex. Tweets from Tahrir: Egypt’s Revolution as it unfolded, in the words of the people who made it. 2011.

Tweets from Tahrir

WEEK 8 (March 20-23)

b. The role of foreign actors:

Readings:

Tschirgi,Dan. “The US and the Tahrir Revolution” in Dan Tschirgi et al.Egypt’sTahrir Revolution”.

Bauer,Patricia.”The Transition of Egypt 2011: A New springtime for the European NeighbourhoodPolicy”.Perspectives on European Politics & Society.Dece,ner 2011,Vol.12 Issue 4,Pp.420-439.

WEEK 9 (March 37-30)

Achievements and setbacks

Readings:

Brown, Nathan J. “Egypt’s failed transition.” Journal of Democracy. p. 45-58. 2013

Roccu, Roberto. "David Harvey in Tahrir Square: the disposed, the discontented and the Egyptian revolution." Third World Quarterly. p.423-440. 2013.

Stein, Ewan. “Revolution or Coup? Egypt’s Fraught Transition.” Survival. P. 45-66. 2012

Sayigh,Yezid. “The Return of Egypt’s Military Interest Groups” CEIP.December 2015

WEEK 10 (April 3-6)

a. Two constitutions and transitional Justice

Readings:

Al Attar, Mohsen. “Counter-revolution by Ideology? Law and development’s vision(s) for post-revolutionary Egypt.” Third World Quarterly. p. 1611-1629. 2012.

Sarquis, David J."Democratization after the Arab Spring: The Case of Egypt's Political Transition." Politics and Policy. p.871-903. 2012

WEEK 11 (April 10-13)

c. Changing the composition of the elite

Readings:

De Smet, Brecht. “Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Egypt.” Science and Society. 2014.

Schielke,Samuli.”The Arab Autumn?On the Continuity of the Uprising in Egypt”. SuomenAntropologi: Journal of the Finnish Anthropological Society. Winter 2011,Vol.36 issue 4 pp.76-79

WEEK 12 (April 17-27)

d. Shifts in Foreign policy

Readings:

Muzaffer,Senel.”foreign Policy after the Tahrir Revolution: (Re)-Defining the Role of Egypt in the Middle East”.InsightTurkey.Fall 2013,Vol.15 Issue 4,Pp.229-230.

Ozkan,Mehmet.”Egypt’s Foreign Policy under Mohamed Morsi” Middle East Analysis.March 2013,Vol.5,issue 51.Pp.10-18

WEEK 13 (May 1-4)

e. Persistence of the economic crisis

Readings:

Farah,NadiaRamsis.”The Political Economy of Egypt’s revolution” in Dan Tschirgi.Op.cit.Egypt’sTahrir Revolution.Pp.47-65.

Mady,AbdelFattah.”PopularDiscontent,Revolution and democratization in Egypt in a Globalized World”Indian Journal of Global Legal Studies.Winter 2013.Vo.20,Issue 1.Pp.313-337.

VI. Assignments:

Weekly reaction papers 20%

Short presentations on major themes 10%

Mid-term 10%

Twoshort papers: 20%

Final exam. 30%

Attendance and participation 10%

Note: Use Blackboard to send papers to the professor (when required) and to exchange emails between students and the professor.

VII. Important dates:

February 16: Define topic of oral presentation, and of oral presentation on agents of change

February 23: Define topic of term paper

March 13 Mid-term

March 27 Hand in first short paper

April 13 Second short paper

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