Lounsbury: Egyptian Liberals

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May 27, 2005

Egyptian Liberals - Arab Liberals

In his fine blog Pratike asks:
http://www.liberalsagainstterrorism.com/drupal/?q=taxonomy/term/61
"So here's a case where the public sector is obviously far too large and powerful; the NDP is kind of like a nationwide political machine that dispenses patronage in exchange for power. And yet there's little discernable "small government" movement in the country. Why don't more folks make the connection?"

Because there is zero political tradition of the same is the easy answer. Political liberalism in its classic sense is virtually non-existant in the Arab world. I'm seeing some glimmerings in the Maghreb (where it has to be a hardy plant to fight off the French influence) and a bit in Jordan, but the popular reflex is to look to a nanny state model.

Let me share an anectdote from when I lived in Cairo.

One evening coming from a party in Zamaalek and heading off to Maadi where I lived, I struck up a conversation with the taxi driver, a garralous older sort. I was curious as to his background as he spoke excellent and refined Arabic - we spoke in high register dialect / low register modern standard - and after the usual banter, hit upon business. He in fact was an industrial engineer. Chemical engineer in fact. Trained in Egypt, of the 1960s generation (i.e. flowering of the Nasserist period). Now I was puzzled, since he indicated he had a fine job as an engineer as Revolution Whatever Plant, and here he was driving taxi as well in the evening. Recall while I followed the two day weekend, his job did not. He indicated he needed the extra money for his family - although he had a fine and well placed job in state industry. Well, that really puzzled me - my sensation was he was the competent type, in fact the idea went through my head I knew people in the private sector that might want an experience chemical engineer who clearly seemed to be hard working (two jobs, bloody hell) family man of some deep education. So I asked him right out, why was he working in the public sector - noting I was a man of the private sector (usually enough to get younger people with no qualifications at all to inquire after a job, even as a driver).

Oh no. Not the least bit interesting to him, not at all. Too uncertain. Too insecure. No, my neat as a pin, apparently hard working driver-industrial chemical engineer prefered the saftey of the government job, its apparent permanent security, its saftey and dirt pay which obliged him to drive cab at night to make ends meet to the private sector. Nevermind such an engineer might make ten times his public sector pay (or so, of course I am not sure my read of him was right).

Not in any way atypical, this conversation, although we did get more profoundly into things than normal. This was, hmmm, six years ago now?

The same thing is seen in the Maghreb. University graduates going on strike to protest in hopes of getting government jobs.

May 27, 2005

Egyptian Liberals - Arab Liberals

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