The Nubians, the largest ethnic community in Egypt, saw their ancestral homelands disappear beneath the waters of the Nile from the dawn of the 20th century through to 1964. The massive displacement of this population has been the subject of numerous literary works by Nubian writers who seek to save their heritage from oblivion and to preserve their Nubian collective memory. Despite the renewal of socio-political interest in Nubia in post-2011 Egypt, the authors of Voices from Nubia, all non-Nubian Egyptians, claim that art in general and literature in particular remain the domain in which the problematics of what has been called the Nubian Question can be primarily vocalized. Only through a thorough reading and analysis of the literary output of Egyptian Nubians can the complexities of Nubia, its people, and culture can find full expression. The rich literary heritage of contemporary Nubian literature allows for a multiplicity of critiques that makes possible a reading of this literature that crosses the borderlines between literature, history, geography, politics, gender, and ethnicity. The diversity of themes and tropes in Voices from Nubia reflects a hallmark of Nubian literary output which is generally marked by a common feeling of solidarity around the Nubian cause. The array of critical studies included in the volume’s eight chapters covers a multiplicity of approaches: cultural, postcolonial, ecofeminist, and critical race theory. Voices from Nubia constitutes an attempt to go beyond the dichotomy between the activist Nubian writer who views the Nubian Question as a human rights issue and Arab-Egyptian nationalists who consider the discussion of Nubians as a distinct ethnic group or minority a threat to societal cohesion and national security. The editors conclude the book with interviews with three Egyptian Nubian writers belonging to different generations and expressing different positions with regards to the Nubian Question. It is thus hoped that this book will introduce the English-speaking reader to the rich tradition of contemporary Nubian literature from Egypt, written in Arabic. On the other hand, the book also forces the Egyptian-Arab reader to question some of the most cherished assumptions and ingrained ideas about the nature of culture, history, and identity. As such, Voices from Nubia has far-reaching implications for how we think about the diverse nature of our societies and nations.

Every year millions of people are displaced from their homes, livelihoods and communities due to land-based development projects. There is no limit to what can be called a ‘development project’. They can range from small-scale infrastructure or mining projects to mega hydropower plants; can be public or private, well-planned or rushed into. Knowledge of development-induced displacement and resettlement (DIDR) remains limited even after decades of experience and research. Many questions are yet unanswered: What is "success" in resettlement? Is development without displacement possible or can resettlement be developmental? Is there a global safeguard policy or do we need an international right ‘not to be displaced’? This book revisits what we think we know about DIDR. Starting with case studies that challenge some of the most widespread preconceptions, it goes on to discuss the ethical aspects of DIDR. The book assesses the current laws, policies and rights governing the sector, and provides a glimpse of how the displaced people defend themselves in the absence of effective governance and safeguard mechanisms. This book is a valuable resource for students and researchers in development studies, population and development, and migration and development.

Dams, People and Development: The Aswan High Dam Case covers the issues concerning Aswan High Dam. Comprised of nine chapters, the book encompasses topics such as engineering, environmental implications, and hazards. Chapter 1 talks about the second dam at Aswan, while Chapter 2 deals with the controversies regarding the dam. The third chapter covers the human perspective on the dam. Chapter 4 discusses land inundation and population displacement, while Chapter 5 talks about the inhabitants of the lake. Chapter 6 deals with urban growth and water problems. The seventh chapter tackles the devel.

This book highlights the long-term resettlement process of the Egyptian Nubian people along the Aswan High Dam. Assessing the resettlement of 48,000 Egyptian Nubians in connection with the High Dam is especially important for three main reasons: firstly, this resettlement process is one of the rare cases in which research begun before the dam was built has continued for over forty years. Secondly, the resettlement of the Egyptian Nubian people is one of the few cases in which the living standards of the large majority improved because of the initial political will of the government, combined with Nubian initiatives. Thirdly, given the complexity of the resettlement process, weaknesses in government planning, implementation, and in the weakening of government political provide valuable lessons for future dam-induced resettlement efforts.

Abstract: From the Aswan dams of the early twentieth century to the ambitious "Toshka" project of today, Egyptian Nubians have watched their former land transform under the rubrics of progress, modernization, and development for over one hundred years. While these mega-projects position themselves as necessary for the greater Egyptian good, their tangible effect on the ground is less clear. For Nubians who lost their homes, lands, and traditional livelihood due to resettlement, the price of development is even higher, posing important questions about the real value of these schemes. This thesis project offers a critical look at the concept of development, using the example of Egypt's Nubians to understand how this discourse is written, narrated, and practiced on the ground. By framing development as a discourse - that is, an "interwoven set of languages and practices" - this research engages with scholarship that sees development as "a modernist regime of knowledge and disciplinary power" (Crush, 1991). The discourse of development is a distinctly modern product, embedded in a web of related concepts including poverty, production, the notion of the state, and equality (Sachs, 1992). As the critical literature on development shows, this discourse has a historical context, rooted in twentieth-century interactions between western colonizers and their colonies (Esteva, 1992). Development, as a means to increase productivity while also civilizing colonies, allowed colonizers to contain social and political challenges in the waning years of rule. Beginning in the Nasser period in Egypt, my project demonstrates how post-colonial regimes appropriate the discourse of development for similar aims. As Toby Jones shows in his study of Saudi Arabia, state power over land and resources, and the ability to manipulate those resources at will, goes "hand in hand with the power to determine, govern, and police the territoriality of the nation-state, and thus the sovereignty of the state itself" (Jones, 2010). For Egyptian president Gamal Abdel-Nasser, constructing the Aswan High Dam allowed not only for the control of water and electricity, but also for a bold display of sovereignty in the wake of ongoing British intervention. Building on Michel Foucault's concept of "governmentality," my project shows how increasing state control of land and resources also translated into increased control of populations and people. Drawing from the archives of the 1961-1963 SRC "Nubian Ethnological Survey," this research shows how Egyptian state forces brought Nubians increasingly under the administrative fold of the state, using the language of development and increased state services to obscure the political and social risk of mass displacement. In addition to state-produced development discourses regarding Egypt's Nubians, this project looks at the role of international development organizations in consolidating state authority under the auspices of development. From the Nasser period until today, international development organizations have played an enormous role in dictating the terms of Nubians' relations to the state. Operating under the pretense of rational and unbiased expertise, organizations such as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World Food Program (WFP), the World Bank, and many others have been able to maintain powerful economic and political stakes in Egypt (Mitchell, 1995). As my research shows, this power often comes at the expense of the "objects" of development, such as Egypt's Nubians. Using the example of several recent development schemes - spearheaded by international organizations - aiming to resettle "Old Nubia" (what is now Lake Nasser and its surrounding environs), this analysis demonstrates how the language of equality and development continues to side-step Nubian demands to return to their former home. This research complicates notions of development, emphasizing the over-arching political and economic considerations that dictate its terms. It also presents a picture of how the "objects" of development experience this complex web of languages and practices on the ground, challenging development's inherent claims to progress and improvement. At the same time, this project highlights how Nubians themselves use development discourse as a strategy for making claims to the state. If, as development literature suggests, states use the ostensibly neutral language of development to obscure fundamental social and political issues, is it possible to argue the same for Nubians? Given the deeply politicized nature of the "Nubian issue" in Egyptian society today, this research suggests that Nubians use the language of development as one of many tactics to articulate demands to the state. My project proposes that by co-opting the international language of development, Nubians can advocate their claims using frameworks that avoid modern state insecurities towards minorities and indigenous inhabitants.

Flooded Pasts examines a world famous yet critically underexamined event—UNESCO's International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia (1960–80)—to show how the project, its genealogy, and its aftermath not only propelled archaeology into the postwar world but also helped to "recolonize" it. In this book, William Carruthers asks how postwar decolonization took shape and what role a colonial discipline like archaeology—forged in the crucible of imperialism—played as the "new nations" asserted themselves in the face of the global Cold War. As the Aswan High Dam became the centerpiece of Gamal Abdel Nasser's Egyptian revolution, the Nubian campaign sought to salvage and preserve ancient temples and archaeological sites from the new barrage's floodwaters. Conducted in the neighboring regions of Egyptian and Sudanese Nubia, the project built on years of Nubian archaeological work conducted under British occupation and influence. During that process, the campaign drew on the scientific racism that guided those earlier surveys, helping to consign Nubians themselves to state-led resettlement and modernization programs, even as UNESCO created a picturesque archaeological landscape fit for global media and tourist consumption. Flooded Pasts describes how colonial archaeological and anthropological practices—and particularly their archival and documentary manifestations—created an ancient Nubia severed from the region's population. As a result, the Nubian campaign not only became fundamental to the creation of UNESCO's 1972 World Heritage Convention but also exposed questions about the goals of archaeology and heritage and whether the colonial origins of these fields will ever be overcome.