Revolution, global development and disability politics in Egypt

Presented by PhD researcher Mostafa Attia, this presentation will explore how disability politics has been impacted by both the Egyptian revolution and the global development agenda.

"Revolution, global development and disability politics in Egypt"

Abstract: Egypt has experienced extensive political changes as a result of the 2011 Egyptian revolution (Abdou and Zaazou, 2013). Consequently, Egypt’s development plans and social policies are impossible to study in isolation. The revolution created a sense of unity which centred on the slogan: “Freedom, Dignity and Social Justice.” Specifically, disabled politics transformed from being about individual requests to collective demands, expressed through disabled peoples’ new alliances. These were influenced by a rights based approach, underpinned by the UNCRPD. Thus, the Egyptian revolution paved the way for disabled people’s voices to be heard, which led to disability inclusion becoming integrated in the new Egyptian constitution and the appointment of 9 disabled MPs (The Constitution of the Arab Republic Egypt, 2014). 

This presentation will explore how disability politics has been impacted by both the Egyptian revolution and the global development agenda. While the Egyptian Sustainable Development Strategy (2016-2030) was a response to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that Egypt signed, it was also a mechanism implemented by the government to respond to its citizens’ revolutionary demands, and the country’s developmental challenges. In light of the Revolution’s consequences, my thesis will consider how the global move from MDGs to SDGs (Davis, et al. 2015) helped to guide policy makers in the post-revolutionary period, providing policy recommendations as to how Egypt can benefit from the application of inclusive development as a national strategy. As an insider in my field of research who participated in the Egyptian revolution and who has a long involvement in disability movement activism, my research contributes an in-depth insight through the ethnographic fieldwork that I conducted. This included semi-structured interviews with policy makers, DPOs and disabled MPs in Egypt, as well as participant observation.

All welcome! There is no need to book.

Location Details

Room 12.21 and 12.25
Social Sciences Building 
University of Leeds
Leeds
LS2 9JT

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