EGYPT AND THE CONTRADICTIONS OF LIBERALISM: Illiberal Intelligentsia and the Future of Egyptian Democracy.

• Jurisdiction: New Zealand
• Date: 01 November 2017
• Author: Shepard, William

EGYPT AND THE CONTRADICTIONS OF LIBERALISM: Illiberal Intelligentsia and the Future of Egyptian Democracy

Editors: Dalia F. Fahmy and Daanish Faruqi

Published by: Oneworld Publications, London, 2017, 388pp, US$35.

Perhaps the most distressing paradox of recent Egyptian history is that when General al-Sisi in 2013 overthrew the democratically elected government of Muhammad Morsi and replaced it with what amounts to a military dictatorship, he received the support of most of the secular liberal intelligentsia, who are supposedly committed to freedom of expression, human rights and democracy.

In the book under review here thirteen scholars specialised in the Middle East, and sharing the same values, seek to understand and explain why and how this happened. In general terms they describe the following situation.

Secular liberals are heirs to a rich legacy going back to the 19th century, but they are also an elite whose Western derived ideology has never won the hearts of the predominantly conservative Egyptian population. To survive and convey their message, they have largely had to rely on autocratic governments that have been secular but not liberal and they have had to compromise with these governments. They have also confronted a strong...