A01=Diane Singerman
Activism
Adviser
American University in Cairo
Arbitration
Author_Diane Singerman
Authoritarianism
Black market
Bureaucrat
Calculation
Category=JBSD
Category=JPA
Civil service
Commodity
Competition
Consumerism
Day care
Dower
Economics
Economy
Economy of Egypt
Egyptian Government
Egyptians
Elite
Employment
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Extended family
His Family
Homa Hoodfar
Household
Income
Informal sector
Institution
Interdependence
Key money
Middle class
Month
Newspaper
Non-governmental organization
Political economy
Political party
Political science
Politician
Politics
Population Council
Poverty
Private sector
Profession
Remittance
Residence
Residential area
Salary
Saudi Arabia
Saving
Shortage
Sibling
Social class
Social science
Society
Spouse
Standard of living
Subsidy
Supervisor
Tax
Tax collector
The Other Hand
Unemployment
Upper class
Virginity
Wage
Wealth
Welfare
Workforce
Workplace
Year
Product details
- ISBN 9780691025681
- Weight: 539g
- Dimensions: 197 x 254mm
- Publication Date: 11 Aug 1996
- Publisher: Princeton University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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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 sha'b (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 decision-making. Combining the institutional focus of political science with the sensitivities of anthropology, she uncovers a system of informal networks, supported by an informal economy, that constitutes another layer of collective institutions within Egypt and allows excluded groups to pursue their interests. Avenues of Participation traces this informal system from its grounding in the family to its influence on the larger polity.
Discussing the role of these networks in meeting fundamental needs in the community--such as earning a living, reproducing the family, saving and investing money, and coping with the bureaucracy--Singerman demonstrates the surprising power these "excluded" people wield. While the government has reduced politics to the realm of distribution to protect itself from challenges, she argues that the popular classes in Cairo, as consumers of goods and services, have turned exploiting the government into a fine art.
Diane Singerman is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Government, School of Public Affairs, at The American University.
