Shop Floor Culture and Politics in Egypt (SUNY series in the Social and Economic History of the Middle East )

In Shop Floor Culture and Politics in Egypt, Samer S. Shehata provides us with a unique and detailed ethnographic portrait of life within two large textile factories in Alexandria, Egypt. Working for nearly a year as a “winding machine operator” provided Shehata with unprecedented access to workers at the point of production and the activities of the work hall. He argues that the social organization of production in the factories—including company rules and procedures, hierarchy, and relations of authority—and shop floor culture profoundly shape what it means to be a “worker” and how this identity is understood. Shehata reveals how economic relations inside the factory are simultaneously relations of significance and meaning, and how the production of wool and cotton textiles is, at the same time, the production of categories of identity, patterns of human interaction, and understandings of the self and others. Title Page ......Page 5 Contents......Page 9 Illustrations......Page 11 Acknowledgments......Page 13 Notes on Translations and Transliterations......Page 17 1. Introduction......Page 19 Approaches to Social Class and Class Structure......Page 23 Method: Choosing Cases and Factories and the Logic of Fieldwork and Participant Observation......Page 26 Structure of the Book......Page 34 Who Is a Worker?......Page 37 Producing Difference......Page 38 Time and Wages......Page 50 The Structure of the Workday......Page 52 Shop Floor Culture......Page 59 Conclusion......Page 73 The Labor Process and Resistance......Page 75 The Production Process in the Wool Preparations Department......Page 76 The Labor Process on the Winding Machine......Page 78 Resistance and the Labor Process at MIDIA......Page 84 Resistance and the Labor Process at Misr Textiles......Page 92 Resistance Strategies Compared: MIDIA and Misr Textiles......Page 95 Machine Design, Technology, and Workers’ Practices......Page 97 Fathy and “Output Restriction”......Page 98 Conclusion......Page 110 Sabotage......Page 113 Thorstein Veblen and Sabotage......Page 116 Resistance: Michel Foucault and James Scott......Page 118 Theft—or—Pilfering......Page 123 Evasion and Escape: The Art of Getting Lost......Page 130 Subversive Discourse and Narratives of Resistance......Page 134 Conclusion......Page 139 5. In the Basha’s House......Page 145 The CEO as Leviathan......Page 148 Presidential Visits......Page 149 Engineers and Shift Supervisors......Page 163 Musical Chairs......Page 165 Shift Supervisors and Workers......Page 167 The Ideology of Authoritarian Social Relations......Page 170 Conclusion......Page 172 6. Ethnography, Identity,and the Production of Knowledge: Or How I Know What I Know AboutEgyptian Workers and Factories......Page 175 Egyptian-American......Page 179 Researcher......Page 181 Trust......Page 186 Class......Page 188 Gender......Page 191 Religion......Page 192 Conclusion: Practical Knowledge and Theoretical Insight......Page 195 7. Conclusion......Page 201 Notes......Page 205 Bibliography......Page 257 C......Page 271 F......Page 272 L......Page 273 N......Page 274 S......Page 275 W......Page 276 Z......Page 277 Title Page 5 Contents 9 Illustrations 11 Acknowledgments 13 Notes on Translations and Transliterations 17 1. Introduction 19 Approaches to Social Class and Class Structure 23 Method: Choosing Cases and Factories and the Logic of Fieldwork and Participant Observation 26 Structure of the Book 34 2. Plastic Sandals, Tea, and Time: Shop Floor Culture and the Production of Class in Egypt 37 Workers’ Experiences at Work 37 Who Is a Worker? 37 Producing Difference 38 Time and Wages 50 The Structure of the Workday 52 Shop Floor Culture 59 Conclusion 73 3. The Labor Process 75 The Labor Process and Resistance 75 The Production Process in the Wool Preparations Department 76 The Labor Process on the Winding Machine 78 Resistance and the Labor Process at MIDIA 84 Resistance and the Labor Process at Misr Textiles 92 Resistance Strategies Compared: MIDIA and Misr Textiles 95 Machine Design, Technology, and Workers’ Practices 97 Fathy and “Output Restriction” 98 Conclusion 110 4. Indiscipline and Unruly Practices 113 Sabotage 113 Thorstein Veblen and Sabotage 116 Resistance: Michel Foucault and James Scott 118 Theft—or—Pilfering 123 Evasion and Escape: The Art of Getting Lost 130 Subversive Discourse and Narratives of Resistance 134 Conclusion 139 5. In the Basha’s House 145 The CEO as Leviathan 148 Presidential Visits 149 Engineers and Shift Supervisors 163 Musical Chairs 165 Shift Supervisors and Workers 167 The Ideology of Authoritarian Social Relations 170 Conclusion 172 6. Ethnography, Identity,and the Production of Knowledge: Or How I Know What I Know AboutEgyptian Workers and Factories 175 Egyptian-American 179 Researcher 181 Trust 186 Class 188 Gender 191 Religion 192 Regional Background 195 Conclusion: Practical Knowledge and Theoretical Insight 195 7. Conclusion 201 Notes 205 Bibliography 257 Index 271 A 271 B 271 C 271 D 272 E 272 F 272 G 273 H 273 I 273 J 273 K 273 L 273 M 274 N 274 O 275 P 275 Q 275 R 275 S 275 T 276 U 276 V 276 W 276 Y 277 Z 277