‘With the Islamists?—Sometimes. With the State?—Never!’ Cooperation between the Left and Islamists in Egypt

Recent forms of cooperation between unexpected bedfellows who have been traditional enemies of the past are making their way into the political opposition scene in different countries of the Middle East. Egypt offers an interesting example of a rising coalition between members and groups who have traditionally been arch enemies in the past, namely; factions of the Left, Islamist groups, nationalists, and an array of loosely organized opposition groups. The paper attempts to document and analyse the development of this coalition within a framework of New Social Movements and transnational civil society.     

Policing neoliberalism in Egypt: the continuing rise of the ‘securocratic’ state

This article examines the increasing power of the police, their centrality to the reproduction of the neoliberal global order and their dynamic relationship with various elements of the ruling elite. It focuses on the case of the post-2011 uprising in Egypt to examine how the police institution has taken advantage of the uprising to increase its power and relative autonomy. The article demonstrates the centrality of the police to the Sisi regime’s efforts at reducing political discourse to an inflated and simplistic concept of ‘security’ in an attempt to establish its long-term legitimacy.     

NGOs and the dynamics of the Egyptian labour market

This article discusses the role that NGOs play, not in their traditional role as service providers, but as employers in the Egyptian labour market. Over the past two decades, NGOs have been offering attractive job opportunities to middle-class professionals who are disillusioned with the private sector and no longer interested in joining the state bureaucracy. The working conditions of the growing number of NGO employees, and NGOs' performance as employers, have not been investigated in the substantial academic and policy literature on NGOs, which so far has been almost exclusively concerned with NGOs' relationships with their ‘beneficiaries’, rather with than with their position as active players in a changing labour market.