Gender and Change in the Retail Environment
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ENTROPY AND EXCLUSIVITY: GENDER AND CHANGE IN THE RETAIL ENVIRONMENT, ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT (1970-2011) by Marika Dalley Snider A dissertation submitted to the faculty of The University of Utah in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Middle East Studies / History Department of Languages and Literature The University of Utah December 2012 Copyright © Marika Dalley Snider 2012 All Rights Reserved The University of Utah Graduate School STATEMENT OF DISSERTATION APPROVAL The dissertation of Marika Dalley Snider has been approved by the following supervisory committee members: Peter von Sivers Chair 10/18/12 Date Approved Peter Sluglett Member 10/18/12 Date Approved Bradley J. Parker Member 10/18/12 Date Approved Caren J. Frost Member 10/18/12 Date Approved Mohammad Gharipour Member 10/18/12 Date Approved and by Robert Goldberg Chair of the Department of Middle East Center and by Charles A. Wight, Dean of The Graduate School. ABSTRACT As one of the most visible signs of the modern world, the myriad of shopping places and types can be considered as a valuable lens through which to examine the contemporary city. In Alexandria, Egypt, the situation was particularly interesting because retail space was moving in two polarized directions: exclusivity and entropy. First, there was an emphasis on creating high-end restricted modern space while at the same time, low-end retail, both modern and traditional, were proliferating and becoming less organized. The high-end modern retail created exclusive spaces in which traditional forms of gendered space could be upheld, although in a reconfigured manner. On the other hand, the proliferation of lower-end retail space allowed greater female participation in consumerism but in an increasingly insecure situation. Insecurity took many forms including lack of personal safety, price volatility, unpredictable earnings, and an unreliable supply of goods. This dissertation will examine how the retail spaces in Alexandria affected gendered space and how ideas about space were reconfigured to allow women to navigate the modern globalized world without abandoning their status or virtue. This research specifically targets the difference between the shopping mall, as the embodiment of high-end retail, and the urban shopping street, as popular retail space. Through these two environments, we will see how they are defined in opposition to each other, particularly in terms of status, and their appropriateness for women, and how they are gendered differently. Specifically this research will examine the extent to which the genders mix, in terms of goods sold, shoppers, and shop workers, as well as the extent to which women are allowed privacy. This will show how the retail environment of Alexandria responded to its citizens’ desires to be modern and globalized through both the creation of exclusive spaces and devolution into chaotic zones. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT...........................................................................................................................iii CHAPTERS 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 Major Historical Events in Modern Egypt Relating to Retail Development................................................................................................................2 Overview of Sources...................................................................................................6 Secondary Sources ....................................................................................................20 Chapter Summary .....................................................................................................22 2 A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN SHOPPING SPACE....................................25 Introduction............................................................................................................... 25 Consumerism ............................................................................................................ 25 The Development of the Department Store ............................................................29 Suburban Growth: from Shopping Center to Shopping Mall ............................... 34 Shopping Mall Typology ......................................................................................... 44 Critiques of Consumerism and Shopping Malls .....................................................48 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 52 3 CONSUMERISM AND SHOPPING MALLS IN THE MIDDLE EA ST..........................................................................................................................59 Introduction............................................................................................................... 59 Modernism, Consumerism, and Globalization .......................................................60 Shopping Space in the Middle East and A sia .........................................................74 Egyptian Malls in Perspective .................................................................................83 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 94 4 HISTORY OF ALEXANDRIA AND RETAIL SPACE.....................................106 Alexandria H istory..................................................................................................106 Department Stores in Egypt and Alexandria ........................................................117 Department Stores Versus Street Shops ...............................................................136 Ramleh Shopping Center ....................................................................................... 139 History of Shopping Malls in Alexandria.............................................................141 Mall Advantages for W om en.................................................................................154 5 OPPOSING TRAJECTORIES: UPWARDLY MOBILE SPACE, POPULAR SPACE AND (TRADITIONAL) IDEAL SPACE .......................... 178 Divergence of a Bifurcated Middle C lass.............................................................178 Popular Space: The Deterioration of the Cosmopolitan City ............................. 195 Traditional / Idealized Space .................................................................................221 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 224 6 EXCLUSIVITY, MODERNITY, AND GENDER IN SHOPPING MALLS ....................................................................................................................240 Creating a Modern Space....................................................................................... 240 How to Get a Reputation........................................................................................ 245 Female Friendly Spaces in Small M alls................................................................ 253 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 258 7 ENTROPY, INSECURITY, AND INCONSISTENT PERCEPTIONS IN THE CITY CENTER........................................................................................ 262 Introduction............................................................................................................. 262 Mapping Downtown ...............................................................................................264 Woman and Space in the Suq and the Informal Economy...................................272 Insecurity in Downtown Retailing ........................................................................ 274 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 293 8 CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................302 Gender Mixing ........................................................................................................302 Interpreting Gender Mixing and R etail................................................................. 307 Entropy, Exclusivity, and Modernity.................................................................... 310 Modernity Defined by Both Exclusivity and Entropy .........................................312 GLOSSARY ........................................................................................................................314 APPENIDIX .......................................................................................................................321 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................... 345 vi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION In the summer of 2007, Mohamed Ansary announced to his Arabic students that he would show them “the real Alexandria.” I expected he would show us some secret suqs or unknown mosques hidden in Attarine (one of the oldest districts), and I was quite disappointed when the fieldtrip ended at an upscale cafe in Green Plaza Mall. The open- air style mall was so similar to Salt Lake City’s The Gateway that its resemblance to a contemporary American mall was anticlimactic. However, for upwardly mobile, internationally oriented Alexandrians, the modern shopping