Archaeology of De-Democratization

By writing Archeology of De-Democratization, as a young pre-doctoral scholar Rahima Seyit shows how to skillfully weave theoretical sophistication and attention to empirical details together to make a persuasive, powerful argument. In many ways, this extraordinary work serves as a model, especially for Seyit’s peers, to think alternatively about the pasts and futures of Egypt in particular and the subject of democracy, freedom and justice in general. Against the current gloom and despair, the flowing text of Archeology of De-Democratization does not let the flame of hope faint. Irfan Ahmad author of Terrorism in Question Decolonizing Anthropology and the Study of Islam This book offers much-needed sharp and critical insight into the attempts by the Egyptian regime to subvert democratization efforts in recent times. While much is known about the use of violent repression, this innovative study examines the Sisi regime’s mobilization of Egypt’s Pharaonic past to suppress the nation’s revolutionary legacies up to the 2011 uprising. Through the combination of massive urban redevelopment projects and largescale cultural spectacles, Seyit describes a process of both erasure and invention that has worked to rewrite Egypt’s revolutionary past and impose an authoritarian future. Abdullah al-Arian author of Answering the Call Popular Islamic Activism in Sadat's Egypt