The Workers' Movement and Civil Society in Egypt
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The Workers’ Movement and Civil Society in Egypt From Underground to Mass-Movement and Back Again Andreas Haugland Master Thesis in History at the Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and the History of Religions University of Bergen Spring 2014 1 Abstract This master thesis analyses the relationship between the workers’ movement and civil society in Egypt within the time period from 1984 to 2013. Four different organisations are discussed from their early years of underground activities in one instance, participation in the mass- movement during the 2011 revolution and its aftermath that led to the disintegration of the mass-movement. The sources for this analysis are books, reports, Internet resources, but not least first hand accounts through interviews. The interviews were conducted as part of the research for this thesis in Cairo and Mahalla al Kubra, and show a clear link between the workers’ movement, civil society and the revolution. The thesis is structured in two parts. The first part gives a general contextual background, and is about the history of the workers’ movement in Egypt and the second part is about four different civil society groups. Comparisons are drawn through a discussion on the services each group engages in, key individuals and the history of each organisation. The organisations analysed are the Centre For Trade Unions and Workers Services, The Association For the Protection of the Environment, The Democratic Front Party and the Salafiya Costa Movement. Key words: Workers’ movement, civil society, revolution, underground, Cairo, Mahalla al Kubra, Egypt, Social history. 2 Acknowledgements I want to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor Professor Knut S. Vikør at the Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion at the University of Bergen for dependable supervision. Thank you to the Middle Eastern Seminar including the supervisors Anne K. Bang and Anders J. Bjørkelo and my fellow students. I would also like to thank Dr. Joel Beinin. His writings and interviews about the history of the workers’ movement in Egypt have been invaluable for the research of this thesis. I want to express my sincere gratitude to Professor of Political Economy Samer Soliman at the American University of Cairo, who sadly passed away in December 2012. His writings and thoughts was a major inspiration to write this thesis. Thanks to all the people in Egypt who helped with the research for this thesis. To mention some: Thanks to Hamdi Hassan, Adbullah el Senawy, Said Habib, Fatma Ramadan, Alaa al Aswany, Bassem Victor, Soha Ali, Joseph Nessim, Nicole Assaad, Yousriya Loza Sawiris, and lastly the translators. However some of these people must remain anonymous because of the present security condition in Egypt, but you know who you are. Thanks to family and friends who have supported me in this process. Thanks to Ingvild for love, help and support with this thesis. 3 Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................. 2 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... 3 Table of Abbreviations ....................................................................................................... 6 Part I: Introductions, Sources and Historical Background ................................................... 7 Prologue ................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 9 Egypt before the 2011 Revolution ................................................................................................................................ 9 Introducing civil society in Egypt ............................................................................................................................... 11 Research Question ............................................................................................................................................................ 13 Introducing the History of the Workers’ Movement .......................................................................................... 14 Introduction to four Egyptian organisations ........................................................................................................ 17 Introduction to Coptic history and the Zabbalin ................................................................................................. 20 Sources ................................................................................................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 1: History of the Workers’ Movement in Modern Egypt ...................................... 35 Before 1882 .......................................................................................................................................................................... 35 1882-1952 ............................................................................................................................................................................ 36 1952-1970 ............................................................................................................................................................................ 41 1970-1981 ............................................................................................................................................................................ 46 1981-2011 ............................................................................................................................................................................ 48 Part II: Comparison of four Egyptian Organizations .......................................................... 54 Chapter 2: The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services (CTUWS) .......................... 55 The CTUWS founders ....................................................................................................................................................... 56 Underground actions in the early years .................................................................................................................. 58 Mass-Movement leading up to the 2011 Revolution ......................................................................................... 61 Key individuals in the Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services ..................................................... 66 Education provided by the Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services ........................................... 68 Aid and Services Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services ................................................................ 69 Funding the CTUWS ......................................................................................................................................................... 70 The CTUWS after the revolution ................................................................................................................................. 72 Chapter 3: The Association for the Protection of the Environment (APE) .......................... 73 Key individuals in the Association for the Protection of the Environment .............................................. 75 Education provided by the Association for the Protection of the Environment .................................... 76 Aid and Services provided by the Association for the Protection of the Environment ........................ 77 Funding the APE ................................................................................................................................................................ 78 The APE during the revolution and after ............................................................................................................... 79 Chapter 4: The Democratic Front Party (DFP) ................................................................... 81 Key individuals in the Democratic Front Party .................................................................................................... 82 Education provided by Democratic Front Party ................................................................................................. 83 4 Aid and Services provided by the Democratic Front Party ............................................................................. 84 Funding the DFP ................................................................................................................................................................ 84 The DFP during and after the revolution ............................................................................................................... 85 Chapter 5: The Salafiya Costa Movement (SCM) ............................................................... 87 Key individuals in the Salafiya Costa Movement ................................................................................................. 88 Education provided by Salafiya Costa Movement ............................................................................................... 89 Aid and Services provided by the Salafiya Costa Movement .......................................................................... 89 Funding the SCM