MER Article "I Have Not Seen a Good Day in My Life" Interview with Hilmi Zaki: Are you married? Yes, and my wife is an orphan. I chose an orphan woman so that she struggles with me the way I struggled when I was young. Her father was a lawyer -- he died when she was young. Where do you live? (Author not identified) • 10 min read
MER Article "I Am Definitely a Product of the Revolution" Interview with Ibrahim Araq: We would like to begin by asking you the usual questions about your marital status, your salary, your age and so forth. I am 31, married, but with no children. I work as an accountant at the National Library in Cairo (Dar al-Kutub). My net monthly pay is 29.77 pounds. (Author not identified) • 4 min read
MER Article Formation of the Egyptian Working Class The roots of the Egyptian working class reach back into nineteenth century when Muhammed ‘Ali (1805-1849), founder of the dynasty which ruled Egypt until 1952, initiated his abortive industrialization program. Beginning in 1819 his regime built European style factories in three major sectors: Milita Joel Beinin • 31 min read
MER Article Origins of the Algerian Proletariat In the first part of this essay, not included here, Bennoune notes that in pre-colonial Algeria’s rural sector land was the basic factor of production, consisting of four predominant subsistence activities: agriculture, animal husbandry, fruit tree plantations and horticulture. Ecological conditions Mahfoud Bennoune • 30 min read
MER Article Introduction The embryonic proletariat of the towns is in a comparatively privileged position. In capitalist countries, the working class has nothing to lose.... In the colonial countries the working class has everything to lose. —Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth Such are the workers of the Middle East. James Paul • 7 min read
MER Article Ahvaz Steel Workers' Strike The workers of the Foster Wheeler-Tehran Jonub Company, part of the Ahvaz Steel Industry Contractors Company, today ended their 56-day strike following a meeting with Hojjat-ol-Islam Jannati and Engineer Gharavi, governor of Khuzestan. Dr. Sheybani, member of the board of directors for the National (Author not identified) • 2 min read
MER Article Iran's Oil Workers A shroud of silence seems to have enveloped Iran’s oil industry since last fall when the top oil official Hassan Nazih was dismissed under charges of treason, allegedly for failing to purge non-Islamic elements from the ranks of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). Even production and export fig Joe Stork • 2 min read
MER Article Workers' Councils in Iranian Factories During July and August 1979 I visited a number of Iranian factories. There I held discussions and interviews with militants and activists of different political hues, and with ordinary working people, about the workers’ councils that have appeared in Iranian factories since the February 1979 revolut Chris Goodey • 12 min read
MER Article The Cares of Umm Muhammad Nagya Muhammad al-Bakr -- known as Umm Muhammad, mother of Muhammad -- is 37 years old and works as a hospital attendant in the Heart Institute in Imbaba, Cairo. She is married to Bayoumi ‘Abd al-Baqi and has eight children. This interview, excerpted and translated from the Arabic by MERIP editor Ju Nagya Muhammad al-Bakr • 13 min read
MER Article Textile Workers of Shubra al-Khayma Dire material necessity is increasingly forcing Egyptian women to take up wage labor. Job conditions are poor, pay is low and social sanctions are heavy. Women make up 12 percent of the Egyptian industrial workforce, concentrated in textiles, food industries and pharmaceuticals. In textiles, an impo Mona Hammam • 18 min read
