Watermelon Democracy - (Modern Intellectual and Political History of the Middle East) by Joshua Stacher (Paperback)

About the Book

""Watermelon Democracy" works from the premise that the 2011 uprising in Egypt and subsequent violent repression emerged from deep patterns in that country's modern history. By examining four aspects of the uprising, and juxtaposing actual events with findings in the literature, Stacher aims to explain aspects of the Egyptian case that the theoretical literature cannot"--

Book Synopsis

In Egypt, something that fails to live up to its advertised expectations is often called a watermelon: a grand promise that later turns out to be empty talk. The political transition in Egypt after protests overthrew Husni Mubarak in 2011 is one such watermelon. Stacher examines the uprising and its aftermath to show how the country's new ruling incumbents deferred the democratic dreams of the people of Egypt. At the same time, he lays out in meticulous fashion the circumstances that gave the army's well-armed and well-funded institution an advantage against its citizens during and after Egypt's turbulent transition.

Stacher outlines the ways in which Egypt's military manipulated the country's empowering uprising into a nightmare situation that now counts as the most repressive period in Egypt's modern history. In particular, Stacher charts the opposition dynamics during uprisings, elections, state violence, and political economy to show the multiple ways autocratic state elites try to construct a new political regime on the ashes of a discredited one. As they encounter these different aspects working together as a larger process, readers come to grips with the totality of the military-led counterrevolution as well as understand why Egyptians rightfully feel they ended up living in a watermelon democracy.

Review Quotes

Stacher offers keen insights into a variety of sub-threads of literature on authoritarianism (elections, state violence, and political economy) while making a straightforward argument: Egypt's revolutionary era has been and is an ongoing process."-- "Middle East Journal"

A penetrating analysis of the transition from 2011 to 2013 and the devastating consequences for Egypt today. Highly recommended.-- "Choice"

An excellent addition to the literature, one which stands out for its ability to deliver a perspective both on Egypt and on the broader question of revolution/counterrevolution, democracy/autocracy which is both empirically sophisticated and analytically informed.-- "Andrea Teti, University of Aberdeen"

Skillfully synthesizing the work of Samer Soliman and Joel Beinin, Stacher does a wonderful job of uncovering the constant tension in Egypt's post-1991 political economy between crisis spending and austerity programs, and how this tension was only deepened during the uprising and current regime.-- "Mona El-Ghobashy, New York University"

Stacher provides a timely corrective to the transitology literature on the 2011-13 Egyptian uprising and convincingly shows that repression and democratization are not polar opposites, but flexible instruments in the toolkit of authoritarian rule. This is a must read for students of Egypt.-- "Elliott Colla, Georgetown University"

About the Author

Joshua Stacher is associate professor of political science at Kent State University. He is the author of Adaptable Autocrats: Regime Power in Egypt and Syria.