Cairo Papers emerged in 1977, when a group of scholars in the School of Humanities and Social Science and the Social Research Center at AUC developed the idea of the journal. The aim was to produce a monograph series dedicated not only to demonstrate the relevance of Middle Eastern social science vis-à-vis Western theoretical orientations but also to share with dedicated Western scholars the fruits of indigenous research into issues and problems of differential development in the Middle East. The founding members of the Cairo Papers included Profs. Tim Sullivan, Ali Dessouki, Mark Kennedy, Nicholas Hopkins and Asaad Nadim.

Cairo Papers in Social Science is the American University in Cairo’s long-running English-language journal monograph, published by the American University in Cairo Press.

  • A key feature of Cairo Papers is interdisciplinarity, best reflected in the diversity of the research published—spanning the fields of political science, economics, sociology, and anthropology, as well as history, journalism, media studies, gender studies, law, arts, and psychology.
  • Located in Cairo, Egypt, Cairo Papers’ scope is the production of critical social science and humanities knowledge in and about the Middle East.
  • Cairo Papers is committed to promoting emerging scholars in the region mainly through publications and workshops.
  • One of Cairo Papers’ missions is to foster the international circulation of knowledge produced in the region by Arabic-speaking scholars and from outlets with limited access to international circuits of the print economy.
  • Cairo Papers is dedicated to publishing and debating knowledge produced through original field-based research that is innovative in its methodologies, creative in its questions, and rigorous in its use of conceptual paradigms.
  • Cairo Papers provides a critical venue for engaging with timely events emerging in the region from a critical academic and interdisciplinary perspective.

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Book Chapters from 2008

A Film Exploration of Sanayeh, a Neighbothood of Beirut, Pascale Feghali

Doing Anthropology of Visual Culture and Doing Anthropology Visually: A Film Exploration of Sanayeh, a Neighborhood of Beirut, Pascale Feghali

Return Migration and the Burden of Borders, Sari Hanafi

Virtual and real returns, Sari Hanafi

Epistemology of Photographic Evidence: A Response, Angela Harutyunyan

Photographic Practices and the Egyptian Imaginary: Epistemology of Photographic Evidence: A Response, Angela Harutyunyan

Political and social protest in Egypt, Nicholas S. Hopkins

Doing Anthropology of Visual Culture and Doing Anthropology Visually: Past and Future Pathways of Culture: Cinematic Representations of Kurds and the Kurdish Issue in Turkish Media Worlds, Suncem Kocer

Past and Future Pathways of Culture: Cinematic Representations of Kurds and the Kurdish Issue in Turkish Media Worlds, Suncem Kocer

Judges as reform advocates: a lost battle?, Nathalie Bernard Maugiron

The Muslim Brotherhood: contradictions and transformations, Sameh Naguib

A Place Called Tahrir, Sabelo Narasimhan

January 25: Visual Knowledge of an Event - A Place Called Tahrir, Sabelo Narasimhan

Crossing borders, retaining boundaries, Cedric Parizot

Galilee vs. Jerusalem: Space and Temporality in Mark's Gospel, Michael Reimer

Beyond the Written: Visual Productions and Sensory Knowledge, Hanan Sabea and Mark R. Westmoreland

Beyond the Written: Visual Productions and Sensory Knowledge, Hanan Sabea and Mark R. Westmoreland

The Serpent and the Ship: Imaginatioin, Memory, and Rhetoric in Early Byzantine Constantinople, A.C.S. Saunders

The Features and Functions of Certain Tombs in Cairo, Medina, and Aswan, Mark Sedgwick

The radical turn of Coptic activism: Path to democracy or to sectarian politics?, Samer Soliman

Protest against a hybrid state: words without meaning?, Robert Springborg

The Resonance of the Sacred: Body, Dimenstionality, and Place, Robert Switzer

The negotiation of identity among Palestinian-American returnee youth, Tamara Tamimi

Changing realities and changing identities, Mary Totry

In this Field: Akram Zaatari's Ethnographic Excavations, Mark R. Westmoreland

Epistemological Intersections: Anthropology and Art - In This Field: Akram Zaatari’s Ethnographic Excavations, Mark R. Westmoreland

Epistemological Intersections: Anthropology and Art - ‘Imaging Memory’: Conflations of Time and Space, and Contestations of Epistemological ‘Truth,’ in Visual Art and Ethnography, Elizabeth Wickett

Imaging Memory': Conflations of Time and Space, and Contestations of Epistemological 'Truth,' in Visual Art and Ethnography, Elizabeth Wickett

Law as a Tool for Empowering Women within Marital Relations: A Case Study of Paternity Lawsuits in Egypt, Hind Ahmed Zaki

Books from 2007

The New York Egyptians: Voyages and Dreams, Yasmine M. Ahmed

Child Protection Policies in Egypt: A Rights-Based Approach, Adel Azer, Sohair Mehanna, Mulki al-Sharmani, and Essam Ali

For a Cultural Politics of Water, Amita Baviskar

Power Relations, Conflict, and Cooperation in the Eastern Nile River Basin, Ana Elisa Cascao

Chance Favors the Prepared Mind: Oil and Water Wars in the Middle East, Sharif S. Elmusa

Introduction, Sharif S. Elmusa

The Changing Hydraulics of Conflict and Cooperation in the Nile Basin: The Demise of Egyptian-Sudanese Bilateralism, Ibrahim Elnur

The Oil/Gas Reserces Problem, Robert Mabro

Fueling Conflict: The Role of Oil Policy in Violence in Iraq, Greg Muttitt

The War in Darfur: The Resource Dimension, Mohamed Suliman

Nile Basin Water Management: National Strategies and Prospects for Cooperation, Richard N. Tutwiler

"The Farthest Place": Social Boundaries in an Egyptian Desert Community, Joseph Viscomi

Books from 2005

Roses in Salty Soil: Women and Depression in Egypt Today, Dalia A. Mostafa

Pioneering Feminist Anthropology in Egypt: Selected Writings from Cynthis Nelson, Martina Rieker, Lila Abu-Lughod, and Judith E. Tucker

Creating Families across Boundaries: A Case Study of Romanian/Egyptian Mixed Marriages, Ana Vinea

Books from 2004

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Beach Politics: Gender and Sexuality in Dahab, Mustafa Abdalla

Mulid Culture in Cairo: the Case of al-Sayyida 'Aisha, Maha Abdelrahman

Watch for the Devil: Israel in Egyptian Movies and Soap Operas, Maha Abdelrahman

Introduction, Maha Abdelrahman, Iman A. Hamdy, Malak Rouchdy, and Reem Saad

Staying Hungry: Food Politics in Egypt and the Near East, Ray Bush

Divine Consumption: "Islamic" Goods in Egypt, Madiha Doss

Truth Claims in the Cartoon World of Nagui Kamel, Iman A. Hamdy

The Role of Local Councils in Empowerment and Poverty Reduction in Egypt, Solava Ibrahim

Cultural Dynamics and Linguistic Practice in Contemporary Egypt, Lilia Labidi

Transforming the Meaning and Value of Traditional Crafts in Egypt, Huda Lutfi

Food Recipes and Kitchen Space: Constructing Social Identities and New Frontiers, Malak Rouchdy

A Culinary History of "National" Cuisine: Egypt and the Middle East, Sami Zubaida

Book Chapters from 2003

Introduction, Sharif S. Elmusa

The Ax of Gilgamesh: Splitting Naure and Culture, Sharif S. Elmusa

Nature in Egyptian Literature: Male versus Female Writers, Maysa Abou-Youssef Hayward

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Street Children in Egypt: Group Dynamics and Subcultural Constituents, Nashaat Hussein

Forced Migrants and Host Societies in Egypt and Sudan, Fabienne le Houerou

A Historical Introduction to Glocal Enviormental Change: The Role of Ideas Since 1900, J.R. McNeill

IMF-Egyptian Debt Negotiations, Bessma Momani

God, Nature, and Mankind: Some Muslim Views on Proper Conduct Towards Other Creatures with Special Reference to the 10th century Brethren of Purity, E.M. Sartain

The Place of Nature in Hayy Ibn Yaqzan and Robinson Crusoe, Robert Switzer

Books from 2002

The Employment Crisis of Female Graduates in Egypt, Ghada F. Barsoum

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The Parliamentary Elections of Year 2000 in Egypt: A Lesson in Political Participation, Assia Boutaleb

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Elections in Sudan, Curtis Francis Doebbler

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Israel's 2001 Elections: Stability at Stake, Iman A. Hamdy

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Introduction (Elections in the Middle East), Iman A. Hamdy

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Democracy and/or Stability? The Lebanese Parliamentary Elections of 2000, Judith Harik

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The 2000 Elections: New Rules, New Tactics, Maye Kassem

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Elections in Egypt: Rumblings for Change, Mona Makram-Ebeid

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1999 Elections in Turkey: Nationalists and Globalization, Baskin Oran

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Transformation Without Transition: Electoral Politics, Network Ties, and the Persistence of the Shadow State, Christopher Parker

Palestinian and Israeli Nationalism: Identity Politics and Education in Jerusalem, Evan S. Weiss

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Bouteflika: A Badly Elected President Looking for Peace? The 1999 Presidential Elections in Algeria, Sami Zemni

Book Chapters from 2001

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The Absent Father, Josette Abdalla

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Domestic Public Debt in Egypt: Magnitude, Structure, and Consequences, Gouda Abdel-Khalek

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Sisterhood and Stewardship in sister-brother relations in Saudi Arabia, Soraya Altorki

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Social Change and Parent Adolescent Dynamics in Egypt, Sahar El Tawila, Barbara Ibrahim, and Hind Wassef

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Terminating Marriage, Philippe Fargues

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The Terms of Empowerment: Islamic Women Activists in Egypt, Sherine Hafez

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Introduction: The New Arab Family, Nicholas S. Hopkins

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Among Brothers: Patriarchal Connectivity and Brotherly Deference in Lebanon, Suad Joseph

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Families and Households: Headship and Co-Residence, Zeinab Khedr and Laila El Zeini

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The Impact of Food Subsidy Policy on Low Income People and the Poor in Egypt, Karima Korayem

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From Sexual Submission to Voluntary Commitment: The Transformationof Family Ties in Contemporary Tunisia, Lilia Labidi

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Age-Discrepant marriages in Egypt, Magued I. Osman and Laila S. Shahd

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Nuptiality in Arab countries: Changes and implications, Hoda Rashad and Magued Osman

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An Investigation of the Phenomenon of Polygyny in Rural Egypt, Laila S. Shahd

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Rationales for kin marriages in rural upper Egypt, Hania Sholkamy

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The Costs of Marriage in Egypt: A Hidden Dimension in the New Arab Demography, Diane Singerman and Barbara Ibrahim

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Frameworks for studying families in the 21st century, Carol B. Stack

Books from 2000

Fiscal Policy Measures in Egypt: Public Debt and Food Subsidy, Gouda Abdel-Khalek and Karima Korayem

Unveiling the Orient, Unmasking Orientalism: Sophia Poole's The Englishwoman in Egypt, Lisa Bernasek

Women's Perceptions of Environmental Change in Egypt, Eman el-Ramly

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Medicine and Power: Towards a Social History of Medicine in the Nineteenth-Century Egypt, Khaled Fahmy

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Masters of the trade: Crafts and craftspeople in Cairo, 1750-1850, Pascale Ghazaleh

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Modern Middle East History Beyond Oriental Despotism, World History beyond Hegel: an Agenda Article, Peter Gran