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Identity, culture and democratization: the case of Egypt
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Pratt, Nicola Christine (2005) Identity, culture and democratization: the case of Egypt. New Political Science, Vol.27 (No.1). pp. 69-86. doi:10.1080/07393140500030832
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07393140500030832
Abstract
This article seeks to present an alternative approach to understanding the failure of democratization in the Arab world by locating the problem of democracy-building within the logic of the process of reproducing national identity and culture. The conceptual framework draws on the writings of Antonio Gramsci and postcolonial theorists such as Edward Said. Taking Egypt as a case study, I examine a series of events surrounding a human rights report about police brutality in Egypt to illustrate how the struggle to reproduce Egyptian national identity impacts upon the practice of democracy. In the course of searching for an “authentic” Egyptian identity, uncorrupted by Western influences, a critical mass of Egyptian civil society participates in producing a political consensus in which civil and political freedoms may be legitimately sacrificed in the name of national unity and security. This is despite attempts by some Egyptian activists to challenge dominant conceptions of national identity and culture in order to open up democratic spaces.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subjects: | D History General and Old World > DS Asia | ||||
| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Politics and International Studies | ||||
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Gramsci, Antonio, 1891-1937, National characteristics -- Egypt, Postcolonialism -- Egypt, Egypt -- Civilization, Egypt -- Politics and government | ||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | New Political Science | ||||
| Publisher: | Routledge | ||||
| ISSN: | 0739-3148 | ||||
| Official Date: | March 2005 | ||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | Vol.27 | ||||
| Number: | No.1 | ||||
| Page Range: | pp. 69-86 | ||||
| Identifier: | 10.1080/07393140500030832 | ||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Open Access |
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