The Great Social Laboratory : Subjects of Knowledge in Colonial and Postcolonial Egypt

The Great Social Laboratory charts the development of the human sciences—anthropology, human geography, and demography—in late nineteenth- and twentieth-century Egypt. Tracing both intellectual and institutional genealogies of knowledge production, this book examines social science through a broad range of texts and cultural artifacts, ranging from the ethnographic museum, to architectural designs, to that pinnacle of social scientific research—”the article.” The author explores the interface between European and Egyptian social scientific discourses and interrogates the boundaries of knowledge production in a colonial and post-colonial setting. She examines the complex imperatives of race, class, and gender in the Egyptian colonial context, uncovering the new modes of governance, expertise, and social knowledge that defined a distinctive era of nationalist politics in the inter- and post-war periods. Finally, she examines the discursive field mapped out by colonial and nationalist discourses on the racial identity of the modern Egyptians. The Great Social Laboratory charts the development of the human sciences—anthropology, human geography, and demography—in late nineteenth- and twentieth-century Egypt. Tracing both intellectual and institutional genealogies of knowledge production, this book examines social science through a broad range of texts and cultural artifacts, ranging from the ethnographic museum to architectural designs to that pinnacle of social scientific research—'the article.'Omnia El Shakry explores the interface between European and Egyptian social scientific discourses and interrogates the boundaries of knowledge production in a colonial and post-colonial setting. She examines the complex imperatives of race, class, and gender in the Egyptian colonial context, uncovering the new modes of governance, expertise, and social knowledge that defined a distinctive era of nationalist politics in the inter- and post-war periods. Finally, she examines the discursive field mapped out by colonial and nationalist discourses on the racial identity of the modern Egyptians. The Great Social Laboratory charts the development of the human sciencesanthropology, human geography, and demographyin late nineteenth- and twentieth-century Egypt. Tracing both intellectual and institutional genealogies of knowledge production, this book examines social science through a broad range of texts and cultural artifacts, ranging from the ethnographic museum to architectural designs to that pinnacle of social scientific research"the article." Omnia El Shakry explores the interface between European and Egyptian social scientific discourses and interrogates the boundaries of knowledge production in a colonial and post-colonial setting. She examines the complex imperatives of race, class, and gender in the Egyptian colonial context, uncovering the new modes of governance, expertise, and social knowledge that defined a distinctive era of nationalist politics in the inter- and post-war periods. Finally, she examines the discursive field mapped out by colonial and nationalist discourses on the racial identity of the modern Egyptians. Colonialism, nationalism, and knowledge production The anthropology of the modern Egyptians : from the fin de siècle to the Second World War The ethnographic moment Anthropology's indigenous interlocutors : race and Egyptian nationalism From ethnographic realism to social engineering : the problem of the peasantry, 1925-1945 The painting of rural life Rural reconstruction : the "road to a new sanitary life" The problem of population, 1925-1945 Barren land and fecund bodies : the emergence of population discourse Body politics : gender, reproduction and modernity The revolutionary moment Theorizing the revolutionary state. This study charts the development of the human sciences - anthropology, human geography, and demography - in late 19th and 20th century Egypt. Tracing both intellectual and institutional genealogies of knowledge production, it examines social science through a broad range of texts and cultural artifacts, ranging from the ethnographic museum, to architectural designs, to that pinnacle of social scientific research - 'the article'. The book explores the interface between European and Egyptian social scientific discourses, and interrogates the boundaries of knowledge production in a colonial and post-colonial setting. This book charts the development of the social sciences-anthropology, human geography, and demography-in colonial and postcolonial Egypt, exploring the broader significance of knowledge production and its relationship to colonialist and nationalist ideologies.