The Egyptian Social Contract: A History of State-Middle Class Relations. By Relli Shechter

Abstract

In The Egyptian Social Contract: A History of State-Middle Class Relations, Relli Schechter explores how state-middle class relations shaped politics and society in twentieth-century Egypt and why “state-led socio-economic development” came to predominate “over the political participation of citizens, or democracy” (2). Much previous scholarship on state-civilian relations in the Middle East has focused on what Schechter calls the “populist-authoritarian” social contract, sometimes referred to as an “authoritarian pact” or “bargain thesis.” Such analyses, as in books like Beatrice Hibou’s The Force of Obedience, describe a top-down, carrot-and-stick system whereby citizens give up their political rights in exchange for economic security. Schechter argues that in Egypt such a model is insufficient, as it downplays the reciprocity and bargaining the took place between state and society. More specifically, Schechter claims that the effendi middle class’s concerns for socio-economic stability framed negotiations to their benefit, so that they yielded a “de facto contract between the effendi middle class and the state” (8). This process began in the liberal period (1922-1952) when an initial emphasis on social reform, “alleviating poverty, ignorance and diseases through means of self-help for the poor,” shifted to what Schechter identifies as “an effendi-centered call for social justice” that demanded the state take more initiative in promoting equity and opportunity for all. A look at the state’s provision of services, such as health and education, demonstrates that regardless of intention, the emphasis on “social justice” disproportionately benefited the effendi middle class. For example, by the end of the 1960s, despite the new policy of providing university education for free, 85% of university students came from the 15% of the population considered to be middle class (128). For many reasons that Schechter elucidates, only 10% came from peasant or workers’ families.