[lbo-talk] Popular Social Movements and the Future of Egyptian Politics (was Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood)

[Michael Hoover]

On 8/16/06, Yoshie Furuhashi <critical.montages at gmail.com> wrote:
> Here's an interesting article
> on Egypt, which discusses the Muslim Brotherhood as part of its
> political scene.  The Brothers aren't as politically interesting and
> promising as Hizballah, their social base being apparently far richer
> than Hizballah's and their stance being pro-business (notwithstanding
> their past cooperation with the Labor Party), though they seem to have
> a level of popular support that makes the government tolerate it
> quietly and do not seem as conservative as Salafis.
>
> <http://www.merip.org/mero/mero031005.html>>
> Popular Social Movements and the Future of Egyptian Politics
> Joel Beinin
>
> The Muslim Brothers have a long history of breaking strikes and
> opposing militant trade union activity going back to the 1940s, when
> they clashed with communists in the textile center of Shubra
> al-Khayma, north of Cairo. The Brothers continued to oppose the left
> during the 1980s and 1990s. But in this period the Brothers-Labor
> Party alliance adopted a more pro-labor stance, though this did not
> necessarily lead to pro-labor practices. Since the 2001 death of Adil
> Husayn, a former communist who became an Islamist and a leader of the
> Labor Party, the Brothers have returned to their traditionally
> pro-business stance.
> Yoshie
<<<<<>>>>>

I'm not sure the above framework is sufficiently characterizes the
Brotherhood. The organization is based upon seeking an Islamic
government that will provide an alternative to both capitalist and
socialist development. The political appeal of MB - and why it spread
following its founding in the late 20's/early 30's into Jordan, Sudan,
and Syria - was that, unlike liberalism, socialism, and conventional
notions of nationalism, it had not been borrowed or inherited from the
West. Independence has been understood to involve a process of
"spiritual purification" by which western ideas and influences are
purged..

It is not insignificant that the Brotherhood was founded in Ismailya,
which at the time was headquarters of the Suez Canal Company and an
important base for British troops. Recall that Egypt gained nominal
independence in 1922 and national sovereignty in 1936, yet the British
retained a powerful economic and military presence in the country.

MB not only remained on the fringe of Eygpt's politics for several
decades, it was largely suppressed during the time of Nasser's close
relationship with the Soviet Union. However, the country's defeat in
the 1967 war would witness the discrediting of what was being called
"Arab socialism" and growth in the influence of the Brotherhood (as
well as the subsequent rise of other Islamic revivalist groups
throughout the region).   Michael Hoover