Avenues of Participation Family, Politics, and Networks in Urban Quarters of Cairo / Diane Singerman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Singerman, Diane.

Series:

Princeton studies in Muslim politics.

Princeton studies in Muslim politics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Informal sector (Economics)--Egypt--Cairo.

Households--Egypt--Cairo.

Families--Egypt--Cairo.

Political participation--Egypt--Cairo.

Political participation.

Informal sector (Economics).

Households.

Families.

Secteur informel (Économie politique)--Égypte--Le Caire.

Secteur informel (Économie politique).

Menages (Statistique)--Égypte--Le Caire.

Menages (Statistique).

Famille--Égypte--Le Caire.

Famille.

Participation politique--Égypte--Le Caire.

Participation politique.

Family Characteristics--Egypt--Cairo.

Family Characteristics.

Egypt--Cairo.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xx, 335 pages) : illustrations.

Manufacture:

Baltimore, Md. : Project MUSE, 2021

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 1995.

Summary:

Intentionally excluded from formal politics in authoritarian states by reigning elites, do the common people have concrete ways of achieving community objectives? Contrary to conventional wisdom, this book demonstrates that they do. Focusing on the political life of the shab (or popular classes) in Cairo, Diane Singerman shows how men and women develop creative and effective strategies to accomplish shared goals, despite the dominant forces ranged against them. Starting at the household level in one densely populated neighborhood of Cairo, Singerman examines communal patterns of allocation, distribution, and decisionmaking. Combining the institutional focus of political science with the sensitivities of anthropology she uncovers a system of informal networks that constitutes another layer of collective institutions within Egypt and allows excluded groups to pursue their interests. She documents the extensive presence of the informal economy and argues that these financial resources further enhance the informal and invisible organizational grid of the shab. Avenues of Participation traces this informal system from its grounding in the family to its influence on the larger polity.

Contents:

Egypt and Popular Political Expression

The Family, Politics, and the Familial Ethos

The Public/Private Dichotomy and Political Participation

Patrimonialism, the Family, and Participation in a Middle Eastern Context

The Familial Ethos

Conclusion: An Ethos beyond the Household

Reproducing the Family

Choosing a Mate: "Shababiik, shababiik, id-dunya kullaha shababiik"

Marriage Protocol, or the Rules of Engagement

Sexuality and the Transgression of Public Norms

The Cost of Marriage: An Economic Nightmare

Raising the Capital to Marry

Conclusions: Marriage, the Economy, and the State

Networks: The Political Lifeline of Community

Earning a Living

Development: Education Networks

The Bureaucracy and the State

Informality: Politics and Economics in Tandem

Informal and Formal Economic Activity in a Shabi Community

Family Enterprises

Informality Meets the State

The Shab and Informality: Wages and Wealth

Informality: The Economic and Political Consequences for the Nation

Politics as Distribution

Private Voluntary Organizations: A Mediated Distribution Point

Elite Politics, the State, and the Shab.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [315]-330) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781400851768

1400851769

OCLC:

1057952503