Comments on: Arab Spring v Muslim Tigers: what’s the connection between human development and revolution?

By: Christine

Christine — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 19:15:54 +0000

The following website might also be of interest to you: http://www.shababinclusion.org/, and in particular also one of the publications: “Generation in Waiting: The Unfulfilled Promise of Young People in the Middle East”
(http://www.shababinclusion.org/content/document/detail/1457/).

By: Ken Smith

Ken Smith — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 17:24:38 +0000

As I remember there are about the same number of university graduates in Egypt as the UK , but the economy is ten times smaller. I think the Arab spring will be in for bumpy ride untilunless the economy catches up with the education system.

By: Christina Hackmann

Christina Hackmann — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:32:32 +0000

Interesting points on the ‘waithood’ period for youth, highlighting a period of time in which young people basically wait for their lives to begin. For additional reading on this topic, the Egypt National Human Development Report 2010 provides some further insights. According to the report this ‘waithood’ period is marked by increasing frustrations, as this young generation in Egypt is the best educated ever, which did however not translate into more and better job opportunities. For Egypt the report actually states that, still, 70% of females in the age group 15-21 are married by age 18 and their labour force participation has been declining in recent years. It further stresses that this frustration is often borne out of perceptions of opportunities being unequally distributed. Youth feel that they are less valued, that the state has been failing them in meeting their needs and aspirations and that in general their voice and concerns are not reflected in society or policy-making.
For some interesting findings and recommendations, you can find the report here:
http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/national/arabstates/egypt/name,20494,en.html

By: Berch Berberoglu

Berch Berberoglu — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 19:38:56 +0000

The word “wealth” on the second line from the bottom of my post, should be “wealthy” as in “while the wealthy leave off of their (the masses’) exploited labor…

Thanks.

By: Berch Berberoglu

Berch Berberoglu — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 19:30:44 +0000

Sorry, it’s “another one of those” flawed arguments of the mainstream academics that economic progress leads to rising expectations and that leads to social and political unrest and upheaval (culminating in the Arab Spring). This is a false argument intended to rationalize “economic development” (read: accumulation of wealth by the propertied classes). In fact, there has been NO economic development that has impacted the vast majority of the population across the Arab countries: poverty and unemployment is rampant among the masses (up to 70%), especially the youth who account for a rising majority of the population. At the same time, vast fortunes have been made by the wealthy and their corrupt politicians, generals, and the dominant party bosses (as in Tunisia and Egypt), while millions are oppressed and terrorized in a state of fear with dire consequences by the police and the military if they dared to rebell. Thus, what motivated the Egyptian masses to rise up in the Arab Spring is not because of a simple neoliberal theory of “rising expectations” but of severe oppression and the overcoming of fear that liberated them to pour into the streets and challenge the powers that be (this is true in the rebellion against the dictator Mubarak backed by his military backers as it is now against the dictatorship imposed by the Muslim Brotherhood, whose days are also numbered). So, yes, the views expressed in this article are formulated within the same flawed western liberal tradition; instead, one needs to look at the empirical reality of the daily oppression suffered by the people who have said “enough!” that should be the basis of political analysis that explains the sin qua non of the uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East. Please quit looking at these events through western lenses using flawed mainstream academic theories and ask the people in the streets as to why they rose up to gain their freedom. Will they tell you it’s because of their “rising expectations”? or because they are fed up by being oppressed all their lives, while the wealth leave off of their exploited labor that leaves them with very little to live on? This latter approach would actually be real “interesting” to investigate!

By: Abeer Rashdan -Egypt

Abeer Rashdan -Egypt — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:17:00 +0000

Egypt problems are more chronic , poverty is intergenerational . it’s not a matter of HDI but the was it enough to stabilization ? the soaring of GDI was due to the prices of infrastructure sector and telecommunication , which both not productive .Never forget the agriculture sectore(13% of GDP)but recieve only 1% of investments .. progress not only indicators but also more analysing and more understanding the people’s needs.

By: Gareth Price-Jones

Gareth Price-Jones — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 10:01:38 +0000

Sounds very similar to historical analyses of what drove the Russian revolution – not a lack of progress, but progress that wasn’t keeping up with other nations or with people’s expectations. Be interesting to see comparisons with East Asia/Latin America (or at least common perceptions of the comparison). Interesting stuff.