The impossibility of actual politics
After the Arab Spring, the African left was left demoralized and disorganized. However, a recent book argues that the revolution continues in quotidian life.
Egypt
Why is Egyptian social media against black pharaohs?
The notion that black people were kings in Ancient Egypt is generating a social media backlash. Understanding the racialized legacy of Egyptology can explain why.
Defying defeat
Political prisoner Alaa Abd El-Fattah’s collection of writings are a powerful and evocative reminder that democracy in Egypt remains a bleak prospect.
When Egypt was Black
Pharaonism, a mode of national identification linking people living in Egypt today with ancient pharaohs. It emerged partly as an alternative to colonial British efforts to racialize Egyptians as people of color.
Troubled times in Egypt
On this week's AIAC Podcast: A decade after the Arab Spring, Egypt faces troubled times. Could we see another uprising?
Victory belongs to the tyrants
Basma Abdel Aziz navigates the blurred boundary between dystopian fiction and reality in Egypt, in her new novel, "Here is a Body."
Egypt and the Afrocentrists: The latest round
Why did North Africans and Middle Easterners almost overnight go from being comrades-in-struggle to racial intruders in Africa and in African American cities?
Silencing the past of Egyptian football
The 10th anniversary of the tragedy at Port Said passed without much notice in Egypt. Have Egyptians forgotten, or are they just trying to move on?
There’s a metaphor in there somewhere
Thoughts on the conclusion of the 2021 African Cup of Nations.
Who was Huda Shaarawi?
Egyptian women's struggle today stands on the shoulders of many historical role models. One of them is Huda Shaarawi.
A just recovery from COVID-19
COVID-19 exposed and exacerbated inequality and insecurity in North Africa's food systems. But the roots of the current crisis can be found in the legacy of colonialism and new forms of imperialism.
The long term prospects for women’s liberation in Egypt
One year, ten years, one hundred years on, the path for Egypt’s women has not been linear.
Clubbing in Cairo
Africa Is a Country Radio is back with a new season focused on African club culture. Our first stop is Cairo with Egyptian music journalist Maha El Nabawi. Listen on Worldwide FM.
Diagnostic dilemmas
The increasing visibility of Qur’anic healing in Cairo intersects with psychiatry’s growing foothold in public awareness, creating fertile ground for debates about affliction, care, and expertise.
The many lives of Nawal El Saadawi
El Sadaawi died on March 21, 2021. Her complex and evolving positions mean there is more than one version of her to commemorate.
Gramsci in the postcolony
How useful is Antonio Gramsci’s concept of hegemony in making sense of 20th century Egyptian politics?
Looking disenchantment in the face
The history of Africa involves navigating utopian visions and brutal realities as the recent work of Egyptian filmmaker Tamer el-Said's and before that, Ayi Kwei Armah show.
Lessons from Africa’s past to cope with COVID-19
How managing COVID-19 and other crises necessitates Africa’s structural transformation, and what we can learn from the early post-independence development projects.
Reading List: Ronnie Close
The author of a book on football and revolution in Egypt gives us a list of must reads on football in the Middle East and North Africa.
The Salah effect
More and more footballers, many from Africa, are openly displaying their religious beliefs on the fields of Europe's top leagues.