Social disparities and class distinction in the Arab region 1 Social disparities and class distinction in the Arab region These papers are the outcome of a conference that was held in Tunis, Tunisia (16-17 September 2016) Researchers listed as per the order of their papers: Mohamed Said Saadi- Khalid Ali- Fathi Chamkhi- Abdelmawla Ismail- Mongia Hedfi- Heba Khalil- Said AL Hashmi- Wassim Laabidi- Maan Dammag- Joseph Daher- Fadila Akkache- Zuhair Tawfiq-Omayma Kamal- Toufiq Haddad Editor: Mohamed ElAgati Translation: Sonia Farid Project Coordinator: Shimaa ElSharkawy Publishers: Arab Forum for Alternatives and Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung North Africa office. Publishing & distribution: +2 01222235071 [email protected] www.rwafead.com The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the authors, and does not necessary reflect a position of AFA and RLS. 2 Social disparities and class distinction in the Arab region 3 Contents Researchers Biographies 5 Introduction 7 Background papers 11 Social disparities in the Arab region: Concepts and problematics. 13 The impact of protests on social disparities in the Arab region. 33 International financial institutions and post- Arab Spring social disparities 49 Case Studies 67 Towards a methodology of studying social disparities in Egypt. 69 Social disparities in Tunisia. 87 Social and class disparities in Yemen. 105 Justice or compromise?Social disparities and challenges to social justice in 121 Oman Issues and Categories 141 Environmental problematics and the role of alternative economy Small-scale production... Alternative model to overcome disparities in the 143 environmental resources Economic empowerment of women: Policies and alternatives 163 Concluding Chapter 185 Structural determinants of social disparities in the Arab region 187 Appendix (1) 207 Social and economic transformations in Syria 209 Social disparities and social justice in Algeria 213 The impact of social disparities on the middle class in Jordan 219 Hanging by a thread: On social justice in Egypt 225 Inequality and the Search for Developmental Alternatives in Pursuit of Social 233 Justice Appendix (2) 239 4 Researchers Biographies Mohamed Elagati: Researcher & Director of the Arab Forum for Alternatives (www.afaegypt.org) Social science researcher and Civil society expert , M. Sc. degree in Political Development from Cairo University, Faculty of Economics & Political Sciences, in 2001. Conducted several research concerning civil society, social movements, and political reform in the Arab Region, including policy analysis and recommendation papers, as well and Editor of more than ten books in same field. Iin Addition to articles published in newspapers, such as Elsherouk in Egypt and Elsafir in Lebanon. (All papers and articles on the blog: (http://elagati.wordpress.com/). Mohamed Said Saadi (Moroccan Academic, Professor of Economics and Public administration in the faculty of law in universities of Marrakesh and Casablanca, previous state minister of social security, family and childhood in the time from 1998-2000. He worked as an expert on gender in the economic commission of the United Nations in Africa. He has many writings on economics, development, and social justice in Morocco). Khalid Ali (Egyptian lawyer and human rights activist). Fathi Chamkhi (Tunisian professor and international expert on indebtedness, He got his PhD in Geography from Paris-7 University in France. Founder and member of the trustees committee of RAD association, He received the Alfonso Comin international award in 2012). Abdelmawla Ismail (Researcher in the field of environment and development- the Egyptian association for collective rights). Mongia Hedfi (Tunisian Researcher and feminist activist, Holds a Master’s degree in Demography, Human Sciences, University of Tunis 2004, also has experience in women-rights research). Heba Khalil (Researcher, deputy director of the Egyptian center for social and economic rights, had her bachelor degree in political science, and Master’s degree in international law. Now she is PhD Student, The University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign. Said Al Hashmi (researcher and interested in issues of human rights and civil society in Oman, had a bachelor's degree in political science and economics in 1999 from Kuwait and a master's degree in strategic studies in 2006 from the University of Aberdeen in the UK. He has published several books and studies, including, for example, a book entitled "The word 5 between spaces of freedom and limits of accountability", with many other scholars, published by Arab Cultural Center, Beirut, 2010. In addition, a book entitled "Omani spring: Reading context and connotations," Dar Al- Farabi, Beirut 0.2012. And from his studies we mention, "the civil society institutions in Oman: Reality and Challenges, Arab Future Journal, Beirut Issue 369, November 2009," the dialectic of reform in the Gulf Arab countries between political and human rights, Arab Journal of Political Science, Nos. 45-46, Winter-Spring 2015 ). Wassim Laabidi (Tunisian researcher in social and cooperative economy, He holds a master's in economics, A researcher with the American University in Cairo as part of project for rural farming since 2016). Maan Dammag (Professor at the Department of Philosophy, University of Sanaa, Secretary of the Student Sector at the Yemeni Socialist party between 1994 and 1997). Joseph Daher (He got his PhD from the School of Oriental and Asian Studies (SOAS) in London. His thesis focused on historical materialism and Hezbollah, and it is scheduled to publish his book "The Political Economy of Hezbollah” in 2016, a political activist, who has Arabic, French and English publications. He also blogs in Syria Freedom Forever). Fadila Akkache (An Algerian researcher and a university professor. She has written about political participation, social movements and the impact of economic liberalization on the development path in Algeria. She has an interest in economic and social issues related to development and social justice). Zuhair Tawfiq (Jordanian writer and academic, a member of the Jordanian Writers Association and Jordanian Philosophy Assembly of and Jordanians Critics Association, and a former activist amongst the Jordanian left). Omayma Kamal (Egyptian economic journalist, Editor in chief of the daily newspaper “Akhbar Al-Youm”, Former senior economic editor in Al- Shorouk newspaper, She holds a BA of Information, from Cairo University, writes a weekly column in Al-Shorouk on social justice issues and labor movements). Toufiq Haddad (Palestinian researcher and writer, holds a PhD degree in development from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London in 2015). 6 Introduction Capitalism has since the Industrial Revolution presented itself as the only way towards human progress and the ideal social system. According to capitalist ideologies, society is basically run by the elite in the form of those specialized in political and management sciences, finance, accountancy, and economics, which means a separation between the production process and the management process. In other words, society will be separated from the centers of wealth and profit accumulation or will be deprived of its collective production. This system is not new, for it is only a modern version of societies that were divided according to class and social status. The main difference now is that the gap between classes is widening in an unprecedented manner, which divided societies into a minority that controls wealth and authority and is surrounded by a group of technocrats and politicians who defend its ideologies on one hand and a majority that works nonstop and is constantly marginalized and deprived of its rights on the other hand. This is done in most of the North under democratic systems and in most of the South under totalitarian regimes. Globalization, neoliberal policies, market economy, and austerity measures played a major role in deepening the rift between different classes in society and so did the marginalization of workers and the deterioration of public services. As a result of the alarming level of social disparities, goal number 10 of the Sustainable Development Goals for year 2030 is reducing inequalities among and within countries. Any analysis of class struggle leads to the political and economic theory of dialectical materialism, also known as Marxism. According to this theory, history can be understood through class struggle in which one class exploits another, which 7 becomes obvious in master-slave, noble-commoner, employer- worker relations or simply persecutor- persecuted relations. These classes have always been at war together and this war ends either with a revolution that transforms the entire society or with the collapse of both classes1. Despite technological, scientific, and industrial advances, gaps between the rich and the poor still persist and the accumulation of wealth in the hands of the few is seen in stark contrast to abject poverty suffered by the majority who do not have access to basic needs such as food, water, clothing, and shelter2. This book is comprised of articles and papers that tackle the issue of social disparities in terms of concepts, definitions, manifestations as well as the role of protests, the intervention of international financial institutions, environmental problematics, and the empowerment of women. Emphasis is laid on social disparities in a number of Arab countries: Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Yemen, Oman, and