Egyptian Middle Class and The Economic Transformations- Historical Reading

This research aims to provide a historical reading of the trajectory of the Egyptian middle class and its transformations in light of economic changes from the nineteenth century to the present day. It traces the emergence of this class during the reign of Muhammad Ali, where the army, modern education, and bureaucracy contributed to the formation of a new social nucleus linked to the state rather than agricultural ownership. During the British occupation, the administrative apparatus expanded. This consolidated a segment of employees that formed a base for the middle class, which later played a political role in nationalist movements. With the July Revolution, this class benefited from Nasser's policies of industrialization, free education, and government employment, and the bureaucratic middle class emerged as a fundamental force. The open-door policies of the 1970s and 1980s weakened its stability, as social privileges eroded, while new businessmen rose to prominence and differences within the class itself emerged. With neoliberalism in the 1990s, class inequality widened, the state's welfare role declined, leading to an internal division between an upper and lower middle class. After 2011, political and economic crises deepened the vulnerability of this class, and the flotation of the Egyptian pound in 2016 and the inflation directly reduced its purchasing power and social standing. The historical trajectory shows that the Egyptian middle class has not been static, but has fluctuated between rise and decline depending on economic policies and crisis conditions, making it vulnerable to erosion and fragmentation today.