Challenges existing views of crafts and service workers in Egypt in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.This book charts new directions in Egyptian social history, providing the first systematic account of adaptation and protest among crafts and service workers in Egypt in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Using a wealth of new sources, John T. Chalcraft challenges conventional notions of craft stagnation and decline by recovering the largely unknown histories of crafts workers' restructuring in the face of world economic integration, and their petitions, demonstrations, and strike-action at a time of state-building and colonial rule. Chalcraft demonstrates the economic importance of petty producers and service providers, and tells the story of widespread collective assertion couched in new discourses of citizenship and nationalism. He also gives a new interpretation of the end of the guilds in Egypt and addresses larger debates about unevenness under capitalism.
John T. Chalcraft is Lecturer in Modern Middle Eastern History at the University of Edinburgh.
Figures Foreword by Donald Quataert Acknowledgments Introduction Popular History Crafts, Protests, and Guilds in Egypt Unevenness under Capitalism Restructuring and Political Contention, 1805–1914 Structure and Scope Documents, Newspapers, and Old Books 1. Crafts and Guilds before 1863 Crafts and Guilds in the Ottoman Empire European Power and Egyptian Dynasty Building Crafts and Service Workers Guilds Conclusion 2. Restructuring after the Cotton Boom Unequal World Economic Integration Imperialism Self-Strengthening Restructuring Construction Textiles and Garment Trades Urban Transport Conclusion 3. Petitions and Protests under Isma'il Co-opting the Guilds Weapons of the Weak New Avenues of Participation The Box Makers of Cairo and Taxation A Stonemason and Guild Dues Contracting, Labor Relations, and Merchants Seeking Mercy: The Cabdrivers of Cairo Claiming Citizenship: The Carters of Bulaq Bidding for Redistribution: The Porters of Alexandria Conclusion 4. Restructuring under Colonial Rule The Colonial State and World Economic Integration Crafts and Service Workers and Restructuring Garment MakingTextiles Construction Urban Transport Conclusion 5. Strikes and Protests under Colonial Rule Demobilization Abandoning the Guilds Informalism Out of the Frying Pan, into the Fire The Rise of Nationalism The Advent of Mass Popular Protest The Making of an Alliance Conclusion Conclusion Restructuring The Guilds Collective Assertion Unevenness under Capitalism Popular History Appendix. A Boatman's Petition Notes Bibliography Index
