Editor’s Note
The power of the voice of Egyptians that ignited Tahrir Square on 25 January 2011 demanding ‘eesh,
horreya, ‘adalaegtema’eya, karama ensaneya (bread, freedom, social justice, human dignity) and toppled
then president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak on February 11, 30 years after his rule, reignited the square again
on June 30, 2013 when millions flooded the streets demanding the overthrow of another president,
Mohamed Morsi. The mounting economic challenges that burdened the daily life of the Egyptian citizen
throughout this period were main factors which aggravated people’s anger and discontent as a buildup of
the last thirty years and continuing throughout the last three years. People’s demands for security, better
services in education, health, and transportation, amongst other things, are yet to be fulfilled. Writing
these lines on June 2, 2014, preliminary results of Egypt’s presidential elections point to field marshal
Abdul Fattah al-Sisi as Egypt’s next president. With an election campaign slogan of tahia Misr “Long
Live Egypt”, al-Sisi has plans to develop the country’s agriculture, housing, education, and other public
services as well as combat poverty. The call for contributions for this issue aimed at articles that study the
successes and failures of the four main economic and political epochs in Egypt’s modern history. In the
midst of a new era for Egypt and a hope for a better standard of living within two years as al-Sisi
promised, and informed by our conviction that to better prepare for the future, we need to learn from the
past, the collection of articles in this issue all feed into Egyptian aspirations for a better tomorrow. Most
articles in this issue focus on different perspectives of the demands of the people for ‘eesh, horreya,
‘adalaegtema’eya, karama ensaneya (bread, freedom, social justice, human dignity).
The first section of this issue Randa Kaldas gives some spotlights on two of EBHRC’s activities in the
academic year 2013-14. The opening article reports on the 9th AUC Annual Forum on the Economic and
Business History of Egypt and the Middle East. This year’s forum aimed at giving an overview of the
various challenges that the Egyptian economy is facing and offering possible future policy
recommendations that could contribute to elevating Egypt from its current economic hurdles. This is
followed by an exploration of the possible uses of EBHRC archival collection of oral narratives using
extracts from the most recent oral narrative sessions conducted this year.
In the second section, several historical perspectives are given. First, Ali Soliman examines Egyptians
desire to revive the role of Talaat Harb as a unifier and leader in the national struggle for economic
independence and industrialization. Second, Karim Abdel Bary discusses the conditions before 1952 that
made the land reform law a historical necessity only a few weeks following the 1952 revolution. Then,
Mina Ibrahim attempts to illustrate an alternative narrative, other than economic, to prioritizing the
restructuring of the subsidy system.
In the third section, Amira Abdel Latif examines the quality of public health services in Cairene primary
health care clinics in lower income through a qualitative analysis of the system of accreditation that the
Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population launched in 2005. Imane Helmy shares her findings from an
empirical analysis of the effect of vocational training on Egyptian graduates’ employment and wages.
Finally, Yasmine Khodary analyses informal policing in Egypt that emerged in 2011 and suggests
possible ways in dealing with this informal structure.
Social justice is not only about helping the poor, but is also about providing good services to everybody.
It is a shared responsibility to enact change and an understanding that solutions will be only partial in the
short run in the hope of a better Egypt in the not so distant future. We hope that the diversity of articles in
this issue provides you with much food for thought and that you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed
compiling it together.
Randa Kaldas
June 2, 2014