Fragile Hierarchies deals with the world of the urban elites of third century Roman Egypt. It discusses economic, social and demographic aspects of the position of the elites of the small towns that dotted the Nile. The work combines analysis of Greek papyri with modelling techniques used in ancient history. The first part of the book analyses patterns of urbanisation, property relations and their consequences for elite formation. The second part discusses demographic aspects, patterns of inheritance and their consequences for continuity and discontinuity. The central argument of the book is that a strong social and economic hierarchy occurred side by side with a dynamic pattern of elite renewal.

Examines the movement by groups of Egypt's elites who controlled the country's wealth and government before European penetration. This movement, which took place in 1879, had a distinctly different leadership and agenda from the more widely recognized movement of Ahmad 'Urabi in 1881-82. This work invites a revision of the existing historiography of 19th century Egypt by focusing on this neglected episode. It places the 1879 movement in broad social historical perspective and analyses the meaning of economic nationalism through a discussion of the elite's motivations and agenda. It contains the first identification and analysis of attempts to establish a national bank in Egypt in the 19th century and a complete translation of two documents relevant to these attempts. Western scholars of Egyptian history will be interested in this discovery, since the existing convention considers the first such attempt to have taken part in the early 20th century. It will appeal to scholars of Egyptian and Middle Eastern history, elite groups, and economics.

Examining business-state networks in Egypt (1991–2020), this book highlights the complicity of international actors in facilitating inequality and elite capture. Using interdisciplinary methodology, it argues that Western actors promoting market liberalization have served as central partners in enabling elites to capture the fruits of Egypt’s economic reforms. In the years leading up to the 2011 Revolution, Egypt’s crony capitalism reached new levels of visibility with the appointment of a "Businessmen Cabinet." The businessmen-turned-state representatives ushered in a wave of "market liberalizing" reforms, expanding avenues for the abuse of power. Providing a detailed look at some of this period’s chief beneficiaries, including a number of Egypt’s wealthiest oligarchs, the volume follows their ascent from former President Hosni Mubarak’s first round of neoliberal reforms in 1991 through his last wave of reforms beginning in 2004 and ending in regime overthrow. The final chapter examines the fate of these elites under the brief rule of Muslim Brotherhood President, Mohammed Morsi, and of Abdel Fattah el Sisi’s current military-backed regime. Based on five years of fieldwork and dozens of interviews with businessmen and state representatives, this book offers a unique look into the politics of policy, and inequality, in Egypt. It will be of interest to scholars reading political economy, international development, and Middle East studies.

The series Islamkundliche Untersuchungen was founded in 1969 by the Klaus Schwarz Verlag. Since then, it has become one of the most important venues for publications in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies. Its more than 350 volumes cover a wide range of topics from the history, culture and societies of the Middle East and North Africa as well as neighboring regions in central, south and southeast Asia.

"This book critically analyses the hegemony of Egypt's business and military elites and the private media they own or control. Arguing that this hegemony requires the exercise of power to maintain consent under changing conditions such as the 2011 uprising and the 2013 military coup, the book answers the central question of why and how Egypt's ruling elites control the media. Situated within the interdisciplinary domain of 'critical political economy of communication', it focuses on popular privately-owned newspapers and TV channels and their ownerships using a qualitative approach involving 20 interviews conducted over five years with key actors and experts in the Egyptian media landscape for unprecedented insight. The first book on the political economy of Egyptian media, the book serves as a case study and a country profile for of appeal to scholars and experts of Middle Eastern Studies, media and the political economy of communication, among others"--