This book reflects the argument on agrarian transformation in Egypt. It focuses on the role of agricultural mechanization in the labor process in rural Egypt. The book emphasizes the changing role of the household and the relations between households, particularly the role of women and children. .

‘Food Insecurity and Revolution in the Middle East and North Africa’ studies the political economy of agrarian transformation in the eponymous regions. Examining Egypt and Tunisia in detail as case studies, it critiques the dominant tropes of food security offered by the international financial institutions and promotes the importance of small-scale family farming in developing sustainable food sovereignty. Egypt and Tunisia are located in the context of the broader Middle East and broader processes of war, environmental transformation and economic reform. The book contributes to uncovering the historical backdrop and contemporary pressures in the Middle East and North Africa for the uprisings of 2010 and 2011. It also explores the continued failure of post-uprising counter-revolutionary governments to directly address issues of rural development that put the position and role of small farmers centre stage.

The assassination of Sadat brings to an end another era in Egyptian history. This book examines the crucial issues in the transformation of Egypt in the period between the death of Nasser and the murder of Sadat. Focusing on the upheavals in the Egyptian political and economic structure over the last twenty years, the book explains the change in Egypt's international orientation through a careful examination of domestic factors. The switch from Nasser's state socialist-political economy to Sadat's more laissez-faire approach and the institutional and structural links between the two are analysed as the key to understanding the dynamic developments within Egypt. The book argues that the propagation of a new political economy was the primary basis of Sadat's ability to remain in power, while the weaknesses in that economy drove Sadat to seek external solutions and ultimately undermined his domestic support. His conduct of the 1973 war, his trip to Jerusalem, his enthusiasm for the United States and his whole perception of Middle Eastern affairs must be seen in terms of his domestic policies and internal troubles. First published 1982.