Previous page | New search |
The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here
Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Egypt's Islamic Group: regional revenge? |
Author: | Fandy, Mamoun |
Year: | 1994 |
Periodical: | Middle East Journal |
Volume: | 48 |
Issue: | 4 |
Pages: | 607-625 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Egypt |
Subjects: | Islam Islamic movements |
External link: | http://search.proquest.com/pao/docview/1290736050 |
Abstract: | Despite the role of 'sa'¯id¯is' (southerners) in antigovernment violence in Egypt for more than a decade, scholars have not inquired into the southern character of al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group) nor examined possible reasons why the group rose to prominence during Sadat's presidency (1970-1981) and has continued to grow under Mubarak. This paper fills the gap. First, it locates Islam within the local web of relations in southern Egyptian society, assesses the impact of religion on power relations within the southern political structure, and examines Islam's function in maintaining the differences and special character of certain social groups. Next, it pays attention to the northern political domination of the south and its impact on local power arrangements, and to external influences, particularly the Persian Gulf oil boom. It concludes that the violent behaviour of the Jama'a can be understood within the larger dynamics of the cultural hegemony of Cairo, which attempts to change the ways of the south, and structural violence, the system of government regulations which maintains this hegemony. Because of southerners' lack of access to media to respond to what they perceive as cultural violence and the structure that privileges northerners, the Jama'a has responded with direct action against both northern culture and the structure that oppresses them. Notes, ref. |