Egypt’s Neoliberal Reforms and the Moral Economy of Bread

Abstract

The Egyptian Revolution 2011 has its roots in neoliberal policies, the premises of which are not shared by a large part of the Egyptian population. Starting from the call for “bread, freedom, social justice,” this paper sheds light on the moral economy of the Egyptian people and finds the seeds of the revolution in a loss of entitlements which structural adjustment policies entailed for Egyptians as producers and consumers of bread, the symbol of life.