Thesis (doctoral)--Jāmiʻat al-Imām Muḥammad ibn Saʻūd al-Islāmīyah, Riyadh, 1982. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [405-421]).

Thesis--University College, London. / At head of title: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Abteilung Kairo. Includes bibliographical references (v. 2, p. 858-862).

Several scholars have examined how Middle East states preserve their autocratic character. Some focus on competitive multi-party elections, which either “ease important forms of distributional conflict” (Blaydes 2011) or are pre-designed to favor incumbents (Levitsky and Way 2002; 2010). Others posit the existence of political parties, which regulate conflict and prevent elite defection (Brownlee 2007). Given the overthrow of a slew of governments during the Arab Spring, antecedent theories on authoritarian durability seem incomplete. Although prior explanations are not attenuated by recent state collapses, further research is required to explain the erstwhile success of Middle East authoritarianism. In particular, less attention is paid toward minority groups. This research design is an inductive theory-building project that seeks to explain how states manage minority groups. I investigate Coptic Church history over three presidencies: Gamal Abdel Nasser (1956-1970), Anwar Sadat (1970-1981), and Hosni Mubarak (1981-2011). Drawing from historical analyses, I argue that the Mubarak regime eased its relations with the Coptic Church as an accommodating bargain: if the church discouraged communal challenges against the state, the Mubarak regime would permit the Church to manage its cultural and religious affairs. The purpose of this research is to offer a guiding light on authoritarian regimes and minority groups. / text

It is universally accepted that the majority of Ṣa‘īdī (Upper Egyptian) and Cairene consonants correspond with each other very closely. However, the Ṣa‘īdī cognates of Cairene /tˤ/, /g/, and /ʔ/ show significant variation that has not yet been studied phonologically or mapped. The research that has been conducted on these Upper Egyptian cognate sounds is either based on a very small sample size, or lacking phonological distributions for these sounds. This paper revisits the phonological variation and distribution of the Upper Egyptian cognates for the Cairene /tˤ/, /g/, and /ʔ/. This study concludes that its Ṣa‘īdī cognate of the Cairene /tˤ/ is [ɗ] in most regions, and that the Ṣa‘īdī cognates of the /g/, and /ʔ/ differ from previous documentation. / text

The objective of this paper is to develop and test a model for the monetary sector of the Egyptian economy. It explores the importance of the instruments of monetary policy and the ability of the Central Bank of Egypt to control the supply of money. The model incorporates the preferences of the public for different types of liquid financial assets and all the financial assets and liabilities of the commercial banks and monetary authorities. With respect to the demand side of the model, it explores the classical quantity theory of Fisher, Marshall and Pigon, the Keynesian and the monetarists' demand theories for money. It explores the importance of wealth, current income, permanent income, interest rates, inflation and expected inflation. The argument by Friedman, that permanent income is the appropriate scale variable, is not supported empirically with respect to developing economies. Empirical work on developing economies suggests that transitory income may be held in cash balances due to the limited availability of alternative liquid assets. Also, non-static expectations with respect to the rate of inflation does not seem to be relevant to annual models for developing economies. Empirical results indicate that the elasticity of expectation is not significantly different from unity. With respect to the supply side of the model, this paper explores the multiplier, the production function and the "residual" approaches to the determination of money supply. Whether a supply function exists or not remains an open question. Empirical evidence indicates that the relationships between money supply, free reserves and total reserves are unstable. The non-linear hypothesis and the production function approaches state essentially an equilibrium condition. Determination of money supply as a residual from the balance sheets of the banking sector is void of the essential drawbacks of the multiplier approach. The model provides estimates for borrowings, excess reserves, foreign assets and loans. The empirical results indicate that the Central Bank of Egypt lacks the ability to control the supply of money, essentially due to lack of control over government and commerical banks' borrowings. Results for the demand function indicate that monetary policy could be relatively effective in influencing the real sector. However, lack of control over money supply implies this effectiveness cannot be channeled in the right direction. It also implies that the monetary authorities cannot control inflation under the present practices. Development of the securities market seems to be imperative to control inflation.

This thesis explores how Egypt’s militant extremists used theological sources and the methodology of Islamic juridical-religious thought as instruments of legitimization for acts of political violence. Most studies dealing with the topic of Muslim extremism in Egypt are defined by a dominant interpretive paradigm, which treats Muslim extremists as political reactionaries, responding to a variety of political, economic, social, and cultural grievances. Although such grievances certainly played an important role in the development of extremism, the theological dimension of extremist ideologies has been drastically understudied. This thesis puts forth two correlative arguments. First, this thesis argues that the phenomenon of Muslim extremism in Egypt cannot be fully understood, without understanding its theological dimension. Secondly, this thesis argues that the historical trajectory of extremism and militant theological thought in Egypt from 1954-1997 unfolded in three distinct and heterogeneous phases, each with its own unique characteristics.

No description available.

The Internet news medium has immense potential to restructure the existing media regime in Egypt. Online news sites offer new patterns for the production and consumption of media content and function as communication spaces in realms which lie beyond existing social and political constraints. This dissertation begins with an analysis of the social construction of the Internet in Egypt. It endeavours to show how certain political, economic and cultural interests and the agendas of key social actors are shaping the development of the Internet in Egypt. It also describes how institutional arrangements, the regulatory system and the communications culture are mediating the implementation and uses of the Internet. Following this analysis, the dissertation explores the nature of the Internet news medium, its communication architecture and its unique capabilities. Case studies of two Egyptian news organizations and their online news production processes are presented in order to develop an understanding of journalists' conceptions of the new medium, their work practices and the online gate-keeping processes. These case studies highlight different methods for constructing online audiences and different ways to approach the online news medium. Online news text and its structural and stylistic features are then analysed. Finally, the impact of the Internet on the mass media regime is assessed, paying particular attention to issues of access and participation, censorship and freedom of expression. The dissertation closes by considering the implications of the online medium for the emerging civil society in Egypt. The online medium permits new actors to participate freely in public debate, and could thus present a serious challenge to the dominance of the state in the public domain.

No description available.

This thesis contributes to knowledge in the field of medical anthropology, particularly in Egypt and the Middle East, in two specific ways. First, the thesis demonstrates how a limited focus on kinship and micro social relations precludes a full understanding of the life experiences of people, especially at times of illness. The thesis shows that these conceptual limitations stem from a romanticized view of Egyptian culture---a view that poorly corresponds to the contemporary Egyptian situation. The thesis proposes that social networks And the ground between micro and macro social associations need to be incorporated into future studies of medical anthropology in general, and in Egypt and the Middle East in particular. Second, the thesis demonstrates how cultural values linked to the diversity of social classes and unequal access to social and financial capital shape illness experience. It is argued that access to biomedical services is a social manifestation of culturally constructed subcultures where kinship, social networks, and social hierarchy produce the current inequalities in well-being among inhabitants of modern Egypt. A cultural and social analysis grounded in the history of Egyptian modernity is pursued here to better understand current inequality in social and physical well-being. Space, aesthetics, religion, network affiliation, and other factors constitute essential elements of this analysis. The thesis proposes integrating a study of the cultural manifestations of the production of social inequality into all future studies of illness in Egypt and the Middle East. It is concluded that a culture of social distinctions and discrimination prevails, and that such a culture shapes social relations and illness experience. Unless this culture is understood and addressed, there is little hope for an equal distribution of resources for well-being among Egyptians.