Diana Magdy

Abstract

This thesis is based on ethnographic research that explores the everyday lives of the group of people and the interplay of affect, gender and governmentality in Garden City as a securitized space. The research looks at the erection of walls, the ubiquity of barricades and checkpoints across Cairo post-2011 with focus on Garden City, which demonstrates the technologies of separation, domination, and control producing different spatial arrangement. Moreover, these techniques of control become an expression of power and the securitization of urban life as well as imposing a feeling of incarceration in the city. Nevertheless, the research goes beyond this grid of discipline by investigating the state of becoming of Garden City within such context through following the personal accounts of a group of youth who moved to the place post-2011. These personal accounts stretch out the multifaceted narratives and representations of Garden City. Through this ethnographic fieldwork, I was able to attend to the everydayness of these subjects, demonstrating how they affected the politics of place and space while navigating the different forms of governmentality in relation to individuals, groups and social structures. This research project attempts to document, to grasp, to capture and to convey the embodied experiences, the affective encounters and relations that emerged in this becoming. Additionally, it unravels the minute acts of resisting, challenging and negotiating the grid of discipline that is situated in the events of everyday life.

Department

Middle East Studies Center

Degree Name

MA in Middle East Studies

Graduation Date

6-1-2018

Submission Date

May 2020

First Advisor

Rieker, Martina

Committee Member 1

Sabea, Hanan

Committee Member 2

Saad, Reem

Extent

140 p.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Rights

The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy. The author has granted the American University in Cairo or its agents a non-exclusive license to archive this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study, and to make it accessible, in whole or in part, in all forms of media, now or hereafter known.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval

Approval has been obtained for this item

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