THE ROLE OF THE STATE IN THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF EGYPT

The purpose of this study is to examine the state role in capital accumulation. The analysis focuses on the Egyptian experience under three distinct regimes: the despotic state of Mohammad Ali (1805-1849); the laissez-faire state (1882-1952); and the interventionist state (1952-1980). More specifically, this study endeavors to answer two major questions: (1) What are the determinants of the state's economic policies; and (2) what are the effects of these policies on capital accumulation?; The state's intervention in the economy, especially among underdeveloped countries, affects capital accumulation, the distribution of income and wealth, as well as the development of labor power. As Chapter Two of this study indicates, most economic development theorists--orthodox and Marxist--either neglect the role of the state in capital accumulation or conceive of it as an "instrument" or a "subject." This neglect, coupled with misconceived ideas about the nature of the state, render such theories deficient or incomplete. The method of this study, as discussed in Chapter One, is the perspective provided by the framework of historical materialism. This chapter includes an explicit methodological position drawing upon the writings of Karl Marx, Louis Althusser and Nicos Poulantzas. In analyzing the policies of the Egyptian state under three distinct regimes (Chapters Three, Four and Five) such policies were found to be determined primarily by two inter-connected factors: (1) internal class relation; and (2) foreign capital and foreign government intervention. These chapters also demonstrate how state policies affect capital accumulation by changing the conditions under which the surplus is extracted. Chapter Five, specifically, examines how the policies of the post-1952 Egyptian state created their own contraditions which, in turn, imposed limits on the state itself.