Food Insecurity and Revolution in the Middle East and North Africa: Agrarian Questions in Egypt and Tunisia

Description

‘Food Insecurity and Revolution in the Middle East and North Africa’ studies the political economy of agrarian transformation in the eponymous regions. Examining Egypt and Tunisia in detail as case studies, it critiques the dominant tropes of food security offered by the international financial institutions and promotes the importance of small-scale family farming in developing sustainable food sovereignty. Egypt and Tunisia are located in the context of the broader Middle East and broader processes of war, environmental transformation and economic reform. The book contributes to uncovering the historical backdrop and contemporary pressures in the Middle East and North Africa for the uprisings of 2010 and 2011. It also explores the continued failure of post-uprising counter-revolutionary governments to directly address issues of rural development that put the position and role of small farmers centre stage. Cover Front Matter Half-title Title page Copyright information Dedication Table of Contents List of Illustrtions List of Abbreviations Preface and Acknowledgements Chapter 1-7 Chapter 1 Introduction: Agrarian Transformations and Modernisations Introduction Agrarian Transformations: Peasants and Family Farming Peasants Farming and Modernisation Egypt Tunisia Conclusion Notes Chapter 2 War, Economic Reform and Environmental Crisis Introduction War and Conflict Economic Reform and Adjustment Environmental Crises Conclusion Note Chapter 3 The Agrarian Origins of Regime Change Introduction Arab Springs and Jasmine Revolutions? The Peasantry and the Uprisings Egypt Tunisia Class and the Uprisings Socio-Spatial Marginalisation Bouazizi’s Immolation and Class Solidarity Social Change and Class Conflict: The Case of Sidi Bouzid Conclusion Note Chapter 4 Food Security in Egypt and Tunisia Introduction Food Security Egypt Contemporary Food Security Tunisia Contemporary Food Security Conclusion Chapter 5 Farmers and Farming: Tunisia Introduction Peasants and Agricultural Land: A Source of Inequality Irrigation as a Tool of Dispossession Land: Reform and Dispossession from Colonialism to Neoliberalism 1956–64: The Postcolonial State and Early Agrarian Transformation 1960–70: Collectivising the Private and Privatising the Collective: The Dramatic Phase of Collectivisation Dispossession and Collective Lands From Bread Riots to Structural Adjustment and the Construction of Food Dependence Bread Riots, January 1984 Structural Adjustment From Food Self-Sufficiency to Food Security: A Paradigm Shift Agriculture and ‘Development’ Pluriactivity Women’s Labour Agriculture in Crisis Conclusion Notes Chapter 6 Farmers and Farming: Egypt Introduction The Egyptian Paradox: Developed Agriculture, Poor Peasants Food Crises and Uprisings Agriculture and Peasants: Agrarian Reform and Counter-Reform The 1950s, Nasser’s Agrarian Reforms: Hopes and Frustrations Land Redistribution: A Mixed Assessment The Counter-Reform Law 96 of 1992: The Struggle between Owners and Tenants Land Concentration and the Exclusion of Small Farmers Water: Access and Scarcity? Land Fragmentation and Injustice Conclusion Notes Chapter 7 Food Sovereignty Introduction Food Sovereignty Moving towards Food Sovereignty Conclusion End Matter References Index