One of the most salient changes in Egyptian social and political life has been a decline in secularism and the increased prominence of religion in the public sphere.  From major constitutional reforms enshrining Islamic law as the principal source of state law, to changing social mores, to the prominent role of the Muslim Brotherhood in opposition politics, religion has become one of the defining features of social and political life in contemporary Egypt. 

The workshop will facilitate discussion across disciplinary boundaries in order to reach a more comprehensive understanding of social and political change in contemporary Egypt.  We anticipate a range of papers examining different aspects of ‘The Decline of Secularism in Egypt,’ including but not limited to:

1. •Changing conceptions of citizenship and community
   

2. •Representations of religion and society in contemporary cinema and television
   

3. •The Islamist trend in the professional syndicates
   

4. •Cultural change through the lens of literature
   

5. •The emergence of the Islamic banking industry
   

6. •Women & gender
   

7. •The Muslim Brotherhood in elections
   

8. •Migration and cultural change
   

9. •Transformations in the legal system, including hisba cases, and other litigation concerning Article 2
   

10. •Transformations within the Coptic Church, within the Coptic community, and Coptic-state and Coptic-Muslim relations
    

11. •Nostalgia for the liberal and Nasserist eras
    

12. •Shifting appropriations of pharaonic imagery in the cultural and political spheres
    

13. •Student politics
    

14. •Religious institutions and the state (al-Azhar in particular)
    

15. •Religious private voluntary organizations at the community level
    

16. •Changes in education policy
    

17. •Critical essays on “secularism”