Unpacking al-Sisi’s Threefold Populism through Giorgio Agamben’s State of Exception Following 3 July 2013
Journal Article: Unpacking al-Sisi’s Threefold Populism through Giorgio Agamben’s State of Exception Following 3 July 2013
Journal: Middle East Law and Governance Journal
Date of Publication: 16 June 2025
Author: Shaimaa Magued, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University. shaimaamagued@feps.edu.eg
How to Cite: Magued, S. (2025). Unpacking al-Sisi’s Threefold Populism through Giorgio Agamben’s State of Exception Following 3 July 2013. Middle East Law and Governance, 17(1), 87-110. https://doi.org/10.1163/18763375-20251452
Abstract: How has Giorgio Agamben’s state of exception enabled the repressive concretization of al-Sisi’s populism following the 3 July 2013? Drawing on the state of exception, this study argues that al-Sisi’s populism developed a complex mechanism of repression building on his predecessors’ points of strength. Inspired by his predecessors’ repressive techniques, al-Sisi’s populism manifested a three-pronged strategy encompassing Nasser’s heroic image as a nation savior, al-Sadat’s technocrats-military-businessmen alliance, and Mubarak’s extended structural and legal repression. This study builds on a critical discourse analysis of al-Sisi’s speeches, legal documentations, and reports addressing Egyptian politics from 2013 until present in identifying a threefold populism based on the projection of a heroic image, a business-military-technocrats alliance, and structural-legal repression.
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