Cronyism and Elite Capture in Egypt

From Businessmen Cabinet to Military Inc.
1. Auflage 2023
ISBN: 978-1-032-02815-6
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 246 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 383 g

Reihe: Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Politics

Examining business-state networks in Egypt (1991–2020), this book highlights the complicity of international actors in facilitating inequality and elite capture. Using interdisciplinary methodology, it argues that Western actors promoting market liberalization have served as central partners in enabling elites to capture the fruits of Egypt’s economic reforms.

In the years leading up to the 2011 Revolution, Egypt’s crony capitalism reached new levels of visibility with the appointment of a "Businessmen Cabinet." The businessmen-turned-state representatives ushered in a wave of "market liberalizing" reforms, expanding avenues for the abuse of power. Providing a detailed look at some of this period’s chief beneficiaries, including a number of Egypt’s wealthiest oligarchs, the volume follows their ascent from former President Hosni Mubarak’s first round of neoliberal reforms in 1991 through his last wave of reforms beginning in 2004 and ending in regime overthrow. The final chapter examines the fate of these elites under the brief rule of Muslim Brotherhood President, Mohammed Morsi, and of Abdel Fattah el Sisi’s current military-backed regime.

Based on five years of fieldwork and dozens of interviews with businessmen and state representatives, this book offers a unique look into the politics of policy, and inequality, in Egypt. It will be of interest to scholars reading political economy, international development, and Middle East studies.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Smierciak, Sarah

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Stadt- und Regionalsoziologie
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Wirtschaftspolitik, politische Ökonomie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Studien zu einzelnen Ländern und Gebieten
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Wirtschafts- und Finanzpolitik
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Regionalwissenschaften, Regionalstudien
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Kultur Korruption

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction. 1. Providing Context. 2. Reconceptualizing “Business” and “State” in Business-State Relations. 3. Developing Egypt’s “SMEs:” The Social Fund for Development. 4. USAID’s “Private Sector” Projects: Planting the Seeds of Exclusion. 5. The Businessmen Cabinet’s “Public Private Partnerships” for Exclusive Development. 6. Reform Losers: The Cosmopolitan Capital Deficient. 7. Public Resources, Private Equity: Reaping the Fruits of Financial Liberalization. 8. The QIZ Agreement: Negotiating Networks of Privilege. 9. Expanding Privilege?: International Actors Complicating Domestic Agendas. 10: Reorganizing Networks of Privilege: Disruption, Reconfiguration and Persistence in the Face of Regime Change, 2011-2020. Conclusion. Acronyms. Bibliography. Appendix I: Network Chart.

Über Autor(innen)

Sarah Smierciak is currently based in Cairo where she writes freelance political economy analysis. She taught undergraduate courses on history and politics in the Middle East and North Africa at Oxford University. In 2016 she was awarded a Fulbright Grant to conduct research in Istanbul with Syrian and Iraqi communities. Sarah co-edited the Routledge Handbook on Contemporary Egypt (2021) and wrote Moon Egypt, a travel guide for the Moon series (2022).