Language
English
English
Degree
M.A.
Select type of work
CIS Program Old
CIS publications
No
CIS Thesis
Yes
Student Name
Soliman, Sameh Mohamed
Year of Graduation
2018
QF Thematic Areas
CIS Program
Abstract
| This thesis examines the concept of social justice and the way it has been employed in political discourse before and after the 2011 Revolution in Egypt. In three chapters, the thesis studies visions of social justices in different socio-institutional contexts.The first chapter will be setting the conceptual framework for the analysis of different discourses on social justice and debates about its definitions and the conceptual history of social justice in the West. Chapter two focusses on the way Egyptian intellectuals and scholars adopted and developed the concept. The thesis then turns to the close examination of how social justice was incorporated and interpreted in the manifestos of various Egyptian political parties – Islamic, Socialist and Liberal – after 2011 Revolution. Finally, drawing upon interviews with social activists and a quantitative survey among university students, the thesis examines how young activists today perceive and advance the concept of social justice.This study explores a variety of views on the factors which precipitated social protest in Egypt – economic, political, social and religious; but economic considerations seem to be the major factor behind the call for social justice. Everyone talks of social justice and agrees on its critical importance. However, this research reveals that there is no agreement on the definition of social justice – no clear formula which would be understood and employed in an identical manner by different participants of the political discourse; nor there is an agreement or a road map on how social justice can be achieved.In addition, the study exposes a high level of political awareness of young people – students and professionals – in Egypt in the wake of 2011 events. Their views on social justice suggest the prevalence of liberal and democratic values, attention to economic development and dreams of social welfare. This thirst of the Egyptian youth for social justice and prosperity of their nation rests on the hope of democratic process. It is through the lens of their political participation that they perceive the future of their state – the true arrival of the Arab spring. |