Rise of the Egyptian Middle Class: Socio-economic Mobility and Public Discontent from Nasser to Sadat

During the 1970s and early 1980s, Egypt experienced swift economic growth resulting from a regional oil boom, but this economic growth was hardly registered in Egyptian public discourse. This book investigates this discrepancy and offers a revisionist history of the period, documenting the massive socio-economic mobility in Egypt and examining cultural resources that lamented what went wrong. It offers a local version of a wider Middle Eastern and international story of the global formation of middle-class societies.

\n Format: Hardback
\n Length: 280 pages
\n Publication date: 20 December 2018
\n Publisher: Cambridge University Press
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During the 1970s and early 1980s, Egypt experienced a remarkable period of economic growth, driven by the regional oil boom. However, it is intriguing that this economic prosperity did not resonate strongly within Egyptian public discourse, which often portrayed the country as facing numerous economic, social, and cultural crises. This book aims to explore this gap and present a revisionist history of that era. Through a comprehensive analysis of relevant statistical data and ethnographic evidence, it documents the significant socio-economic mobility that took place in Egypt, highlighting changes in the employment structure and the emergence of mass consumption. Relli Shechter delves into a diverse range of cultural resources, including Egyptian academic writing, the press, cinema, and literature, where critics expressed their concerns about what went wrong in Egypt. By doing so, he presents a localized perspective on a broader Middle Eastern and international narrative: the formation of middle-class societies across the world, where individuals strived for respectable lives with varying degrees of success.

\n Weight: 235g\n
Dimension: 235 x 155 x 17 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781108474481\n \n