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Creative Destruction: Neoliberalism and Gendered Corporeality in Egypt
Abstract
In developing countries like Egypt, “The neoliberal program,” writes Tim Mitchell (1999), “has not removed the state from the market or eliminated “profligate” public subsidies. These achievements belong to the imagination.” Despite promising wide-reaching positive outcomes, neoliberal policies in Egypt have had detrimental effects on poor households, on the nature and yield of agricultural production, and on the industrial output of the country, but what about the effects on the body? How have gendered/othered bodies fared under the policies of deregulation as they experience what David Harvey (2005) has labeled, the “creative destruction” of former systems of governance? What conclusions can be reached if we placed the gendered body at the intersection of neoliberalism, patriarchy and gender? And, what role does the corporeal play in the production of gender, sexuality and power under neoliberalism? Taking neoliberalism as a historical and social context, this paper re-examines Deniz Kandioti’s (1988) brilliant concept of “bargaining with patriarchy” to argue that neoliberalism has shifted the terms of negotiation. By adhering to expectations of honor and shame, women have “bargained” with their bodies under patriarchal systems as a self-serving strategy. Kandiyoti posits that women often accepted unfavorable patriarchal conditions in return for foreseeable benefits they stood to gain from the system. These decisions to strike the patriarchal bargain are not however, the outcome of disempowered attitudes or passive bodies but are often strategic. Idioms of patriarchy such as honor and shame have been the cornerstone of these bargaining processes that are often played out on the body. While gendered bodies struggle under the economic repercussions of deregulation, they also redraw the limits imposed by honor and shame on the corporeal to create shifts in body scapes. Thus, whereas neoliberalization policies have been economically devastating to patriarchal bargains, the impact on gendered bodies mirrors their “creative destruction.” This paper discusses the effects of this creative destruction on the body and aims to provide the socioeconomic framework necessary for understanding women’s participation in the Egyptian uprising of 2011.
Discipline
Anthropology
Geographic Area
None
Sub Area
Gender/Women's Studies