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Labor Protests in Sisi's Egypt: the Paradox of Repression
Abstract
In the late 1990s, as the Mubarak regime accelerated the implementation of market reforms the number of labor protests grew significantly. The wave of protests continued in the 2000s, reaching 3.9 a day in 2008, 4.4 in 2009, and 5.8 in 2010. It is not surprising that as the Egyptian Revolution erupted that the number of labor protests would rise significantly. It is also not surprising that as the contestation over the direction of the country continued after Mubarak’s overthrow and during Morsi’s tenure in office that the number of labor protests remained high, averaging 38.6 protests per day. What is more surprising is that labor protests continued at a high rate after his overthrow by General Sisi and Sisi subsequent election to the presidency. Since Sisi’s coming to power, repression in Egypt has risen to levels that are significantly higher than anything experienced during Mubarak’s tenure while at the same time government renewed to implement neoliberal economic policies intensified. The number of labor protests has declined when compared to Morsi’s time in office. However, they remain significantly higher, at more than 29 per day between mid-2014 and the end of 2015, than they were during the last years of the Mubarak regime when repression when repression of opposition political parties’ and civil society activists was not as intense as it has become during Sisi’s tenure. This paper will rely on Global Database, Language and Tone (GDELT) and Land Center for Human Rights in Cairo among others to document the patterns of labor protest since the late 1990s. It will content that the continued high levels of labor protests in Egypt despite the increasing costs of mounting such protests can be explained by drawing on the insights of prospect theory which argues that people respond to and act differently depending on whether they perceive themselves to be in the domain of losses or the domain of gains. When in the domain of gains, people tend to act to protect what they have and thus are more risk averse. However, when they perceive themselves to be in the domain of loss, their assessment of risk shifts and they are more willing to engage in potentially costly action. In other words, paradoxically, the heightened repression under Sisi is pushing more workers into the domain of loss and thus is making them more not less willing to engage in protests.
Discipline
Political Science
Geographic Area
Egypt
Sub Area
19th-21st Centuries