Commodity Fetishism and Performative Identity: Studying the Effects of Neoliberal Reform on the Work of Non-Governmental Organizations in Cairo

Author

Cynthia N. Bauer, University of MississippiFollow

Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Croft Institute for International Studies

First Advisor

Vivian Ibrahim

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

This paper explores the economic dimension of identity politics, exemplified in the case study of the NGO Safarni in Cairo, Egypt. In doing so, I argue that neoliberal economic reform has led to an expansion of the capitalist mindset to include new subjectivities, one of which is the categorization of identity. By teaching values of "diversity" and "openness," and getting significant international funding to do so, Safarni is participating in a system that is creating a new type of labor and laborer, and where this labor is one in which the self objectifies itself.

Comments

A thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for completion of the Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies from the Croft Institute for International Studies and the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College.

Recommended Citation

Bauer, Cynthia N., "Commodity Fetishism and Performative Identity: Studying the Effects of Neoliberal Reform on the Work of Non-Governmental Organizations in Cairo" (2019). Honors Theses. 1239.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/1239

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