Postcoloniality and Statehood: The Case of Egypt

This book traces the evolution of the postcolonial state and the social contract in Egypt. It problematises two of the most ubiquitous and contentious terms: democratisation and development, within the context of Egypt and the larger Global South. It also subverts western-centric ideas of global politics to examine why certain aspects of Egypt’s history and policies have received more attention than others. This volume presents a study of state-society relations, the shift to Infitah, the impact of neoliberalisation from 1970 to 2011, and social responses to it. It argues that the Arab Uprisings of 2011 were not isolated events, but a result of a longue durée political-economic history. Through the prism of postcoloniality, it shows how citizenship is constantly renegotiated in view of the ongoing neoliberalisation and the impact of such social transformations on the nature of the postcolonial state. It juxtaposes the role of the state and society against global political and economic landscapes to address the larger question: what is the nature of the postcolonial state? This book will be of interest to a wide array of scholars and researchers from politics and international relations, sociology and social anthropology, social theory, political theory, postcolonialism and Global South studies.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction 2. Theorising the State 3. The Political Elite and Its Uniform 4. Development (Terms and Conditions Attached) 5. Consonant Notes, Dissonant Notes 6. Counterhegemony and Democratisation in the Postcolony Afterword Bibliography

About the Author :
Priyanka Chandra is Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations at the Jindal School of International Affairs (JSIA), O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), Sonepat, India. She is co-director of the research series Critical Interventions in Arts and Cultural Studies, a transdisciplinary research programme that focuses on intersections of art, culture, and politics in the Global South. She obtained her PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.

Review :
“Priyanka Chandra provides an excellent analysis of the transformation of the Egyptian state by drawing resources from a postcolonial perspective. In this well-researched book, she brings forth the nature of Egyptian state not merely as a structural political arrangement, but as a dynamic political entity that is constituted and reconstituted by several elements such as the military, neoliberal political economy and countervailing forces in civil society.” - A.K. Ramakrishnan (Nelson Mandela Chair Professor, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India) "Chandra’s book is a timely intervention, both in regards to broader theories of the state in the MENA region and also in relation to the unique context of Egypt. This work is particularly important for those who seek to understand the longer systemic and structural causes of the Arab uprisings, particularly in Egypt, while avoiding the generalisations and hackneyed clichés that have come to represent a lot of analysis in regards to Arab states. While providing the context of how colonial and orientalist notions of society ended up influencing the manner in which theories of state formation were articulated, Chandra unpacks the relationships between the state, various military regimes and civil society to establish how they have negotiated the shifting contours of the socio-economic landscape." - Ali Khan Mahmudabad (Head of the Department of Political Science, Ashoka University)