State Violence, Mobility and Everyday Life in Cairo, Egypt

University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Geography Geography 2015 State Violence, Mobility and Everyday Life in Cairo, Egypt Christine E. Smith University of Kentucky, [email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Smith, Christine E., "State Violence, Mobility and Everyday Life in Cairo, Egypt" (2015). Theses and Dissertations--Geography. 34. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/geography_etds/34 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Geography at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Geography by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Christine E. Smith, Student Dr. Anna Secor, Major Professor Dr. Patricia Ehrkamp, Director of Graduate Studies STATE VIOLENCE, MOBILITY AND EVERYDAY LIFE IN CAIRO, EGYPT _____________________________________________________________ DISSERTATION _____________________________________________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Christine Elizabeth Smith Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Anna J. Secor, Professor of Geography Lexington, Kentucky 2015 Copyright © Christine Elizabeth Smith 2015 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION STATE VIOLENCE, MOBILITY AND EVERYDAY LIFE IN CAIRO, EGYPT State violence in Egypt is an embedded part of daily life and popular culture, and well documented in social and news media. The uprisings of January 11, which took place in Egypt were organized in large part against violence and torture regularly delivered by police forces. In this dissertation I examine the implications of chronic state violence on everyday life for low- income Egyptians. In doing so, this dissertation provides analysis of how violence shapes forms of intimacy within social life, how it shapes urban landscapes and the politics therein and how it informs individual piety and banal practices of security. This work contributes to studies within feminist geopolitics, memory and emotion within geography by understanding the lives of Cairenes through their experience of the landscape and places they inhabit, maneuver through, and create with the memory and threat of state violence. The project focuses on four selected sites in Greater Cairo: Kholousy Street in Shoubra, Musky Market in Old Cairo, Cairo University in Giza, and Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo. These sites have been chosen because they represent different nodes of daily life (shopping, leisure, education, and political participation) for low-income Cairenes. Research methods include participant observation at the four sites, eleven focus groups and thirty-one interviews with low-income Cairo residents in two age cohorts: one group of participants between the ages of 18 and 26, and a second cohort between the ages of 49 and 57. For each of these questions, this project provides a gender sensitive comparison of the two age cohorts in order to gain insight into the role of youth and memory and gender in Cairenes’ interpretations and representations of the Mubarak era and the recent revolution. KEYWORDS: State Violence, Mobility, Cairo, Everyday Life, Urban Space Christine Elizabeth Smith__________ Student’s Signature _April 13, 2015__________________ Date STATE VIOLENCE, MOBILITY AND EVERYDAY LIFE IN CAIRO, EGYPT By Christine Elizabeth Smith ______Dr. Anna J. Secor ________ Director of Dissertation ______Dr. Patricia Erhkamp _____ Director of Graduate Studies ________April 27th, 2015________ For mother who taught me to love beautiful things For Sandy who became my brother For Anna and her wild belief in me For Giant and lazy afternoons spent with Matlock and sub sandwiches ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe thanks to a large crew of friends and family who provided constant encouragement through prayer, baked goods, sensible advice, high-fives and hugs. I have been particularly fortunate to be part of an academic department which has provided a warm community of exploration and scholarship. Beyond the University of Kentucky campus, living in the city of Lexington has given me the opportunity to participate in writing classes at the Carnegie Center. The comments and help given to me by fellow writers and center director Neil Chethik have been invaluable. Finally, major thanks are due to interlocutors, friends and research assistants in Cairo, Egypt who helped me make sense of life in the city. Indeed, they invited me into their homes, fed me and let me into their lives. I am truly grateful. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgement…………………………………………………………………….………....iii List of Tables………………………………………………………………………………….....vi List of Figures…..…………………………………………………………………………….....vii Chapter One: Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 The Mubarak Era and the Arab Spring: a Review ..................................................................2 The rise of the military in political life ..............................................................................3 Violence .........................................................................................................................5 The Arab Spring .................................................................................................................7 A Constantly Changing City .............................................................................................. 12 Walking and Everyday Life ............................................................................................... 13 The nature of violence ....................................................................................................... 17 Outline of dissertation ....................................................................................................... 20 Contributions of dissertation research ................................................................................. 21 Chapter Two: Methodology .............................................................................................. 24 Research Site Description .................................................................................................. 25 Phases of Research............................................................................................................ 27 Recruitment...................................................................................................................... 30 Focus groups .................................................................................................................... 32 The use of film in focus groups ...................................................................................... 34 Films ............................................................................................................................ 35 The nature of focus groups ............................................................................................. 39 Phase Two Focus Groups .................................................................................................. 41 Interviews ........................................................................................................................ 42 The use of Interpreters and translators ................................................................................ 43 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 47 Chapter Three: Looking for the State and Finding God: Conceptions of security among low-income Cairenes......................................................................................................... 50 Introduction...................................................................................................................... 50 Methodology ...................................................................................................................

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