The purpose of this paper is to examine the emergence of economic expertise in Egypt through the study of the Société d'Economie Politique, de Statistique et de Législation, which was established in early 20th century colonial Egypt as the first learned society in the field of social sciences. This society, and its journal L'Egypte Contemporaine, constituted a space in which government officials, members of the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie, professors of law and political economy could debate economic and social issues related to Egypt. Among the main topics tackled in its Political Economy section were issues pertaining to the cultivation and uses of cotton and the development of small industries. In addition, questions pertaining to agriculture cooperatives, working conditions in the industrial sector, as well as juvenile delinquency were largely debated in the Social Economy section of the Society. I will argue that, although a wide variety of subjects were covered, and diverse views expressed, in the Society's journal, one may however locate the emergence of a specific type of discourse, one which claims objectivity and seeks the establishment of facts through the extensive use of statistics. Such aspiration to objectivity is also apparent in the Society's obvious attempt to distinguish its contribution from the type of discourse held in the political sphere. Paradoxically however, members of the Society sought to influence legislation and to affect decision-making processes through the development of localized and specific knowledge that is essentially geared towards political action. In this sense, Political Economy and Social Economy were conceived as applied fields of knowledge. Through the analysis of the Society's publications and archives, this paper will explore the emergence of a new type of knowledge and a specific mode of intervention in the public sphere in the context of colonial Egypt in the first half of the 20th century.

Norman Douglas once said: "Education is a state-controlled manufactory of echoes". There is little doubt that education is used by governments to communicate certain values to the members of society. Through the process of education, specifically public education, students are socialized into citizens and are introduced to the fundamental principles that govern their society. Because formal education heavily relies on textbooks, analyzing them becomes useful in understanding the kind of national identity the nationalist project as a whole aims to transmit to the younger generation. Thus, analyzing textbooks issued by the government can provide great insight into the ideal national identity envisioned by the given government at and the nationalist project at any given time. Textbooks from the early twentieth century Egypt (1930-1945) are significant in understanding the components of the national identity favored and encouraged during that particular time period. At the same time, contemporary textbooks are equally valuable in determining the specific qualities of the ideal national identity for today's younger generation in Egypt. By looking into textbooks from both the early twentieth century as well as the contemporary period, this paper tries to dissect the components of the Egyptian national identity "advertised" during both periods by textbook makers. Additionally, this paper compares both national identities to account for factors of continuity and change. What qualities should the ideal Egyptian citizen have as portrayed in these textbooks? What ideologies influence this ideal national identity? What role does religion play in these textbooks? How is the government portrayed? What hidden messages about Egyptian nationalism can be inferred? And what changes have taken place in the portrayal of the ideal national identity from the early twentieth century until today. The research is based on primary sources in the form of High-school textbooks issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Education in the early twentieth century as well as contemporary High-School textbooks issued by the current Ministry of Education.

How do we understand discourse emanating from Egyptians that have not been seen as 'indigenous' but rather attributed to 'Western' geopolitical referents, particularly modernity?  What are the geopolitical epistemological centers we draw on and how does it relate to the production of knowledge?   This essay attempts to bring together two specific strands.  First, I unpack a linear history of the Western referent termed 'modernity' in relation to interpretations of Qasim Amin and the implications of his legacy as the “father of Egyptian feminism”. What macronarratives are used to explain his positions in Leila Ahmed’s work, and second, what “fractured” histories of intellectual traditions emerge examining the thought of Qasim Amin, “the father of Egyptian feminism”, and the implications of his legacy.   More importantly, what implications does attributing Qasim Amin to a Western geo-political modernity? This essay explores critically the global locations of the applications of discourses concerning Qasim Amin.  I would focus on the manner in which local activists and scholars in their locus engage in particularized regions of knowledge that have different geo-epistemological centers; centers different from others who are situated and tied to the West in different manners.  Such an exploration attempts to understand the geographies of power that gender history is embroiled in. How do uneven geopolitical distributions of power problematize notions of gender and women studies in the 21st century outside of the West?   An understanding of these multi-layered geographies and our navigation through them helps take into account local histories and rethink geopolitical referents of modernity. By unpacking the linear version of history that narrates Qasim Amin, we see how macronarratives are used to explain this binary of Indigenous/Western, and thus, in order to debunk this binary, I examine how it is connected to international power politics that seek to reinstate this dichotomy.