Relli Shechter
Biographic Data
| ID | 5183335 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Relli Shechter |
| GIVEN NAMES | Relli |
| FAMILY NAME | Shechter |
| SIGNATURE | SHECHTER R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Ben-Gurion University of the Negev |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6805-3067 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 24 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 13 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2003 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Legislating the Progressive Arab Society
This article examines the 1964 interim constitutions of Egypt, Iraq, and Syria as markers of a two-decade-long shift in Arab constitutional design—moving from individual liberal rights toward a new regional social contract centered on social rights. The vision of a progressive society rested on two principles of collective welfare: solidarity—expressed through constitutional commitments to collective well-being—and social justice, which aimed to …
Royal Developmentalism
Between 1953 and 1979, oil disruptions – the socioeconomic dislocations caused by petroleum wealth, from inflation and inequality to labor market transformation – reshaped the political economies of Iran and Saudi Arabia, driving both monarchies toward ‘royal developmentalism’, a form of authoritarian modernization. Despite their significant cultural differences, the two states followed similar paths in responding to oil-induced economic challeng…
The Egyptian Social Contract
The Egyptian Social Contract explores the intricacies of the relationship between the state and its citizens, from the establishment of the semi-independent Egyptian nation in 1922 until the 2011 Uprising. The book foregrounds the social history of the social contract: the analysis of state–middle class relations and how these relations have shaped Egyptian society. It studies why and how a social contract that had been reformed in the aftermath …
ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Āl Saʿūd’s Other Campaign
This article focuses on the propaganda campaign that advisors to ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Āl Saʿūd (“Ibn Saud”) –– emir, later sultan, of Najd and, later again, king of Najd and Hijaz, and finally king of Saudi Arabia –– engaged in between 1918 and 1932. It argues that this prolonged campaign was as crucial to the establishment of the state as the sultan’s military conquest of the land. I term this a “campaign” because it was a connected attempt, having con…
A Social Contract Moment
Egypt’s National Action Charter and Saudi Arabia’s Ten-Point Program were issued in 1962 amid a context of domestic and regional insecurity for both regimes. This article reviews the context that shaped each regime’s pledges for both political and (rather similar) socioeconomic reforms, challenging the common analysis of the so-called authoritarian bargain as a simplistic exchange of economic benefits for the political rights of citizens. Both do…
The Rise of the Egyptian Middle Class
During the 1970s and early 1980s, Egypt experienced rapid economic growth- the result of a regional oil boom. Oddly, this economic growth hardly registered in Egyptian public discourse, which constantly claimed that the country was experiencing economic and socio-cultural crises. The present book sets out to investigate this discrepancy. It studies the unprecedented socio-economic mobility, the significant changes in the employment structure, and…
From effendi to infitā ī? Consumerism and Its Malcontents in the Emergence of Egyptian Market Society
This article studies intellectual responses of the Egyptian middle class, or effendiyya, to the development of local consumer society during the 1970s. Effendiyya opposition to Sadat's economic reforms (infitā) was ample in films, film reviews, and academic writing. The most emphatic objection was raised against a transition from production- to consumption-based social stratification and society. New consumerism represented the unjust reign of th…
Glocal Mediators
This article discusses the business strategies formulated by Egyptian marketers as they established their enterprises to meet new multinational corporations' (MNCs') demand for marketing—research, promotion, and advertising services. This transition occurred during a period of economic liberalization, known locally as the infitah (open-door era), and rapid economic growth, resulting from the regional oil-boom of the early 1970s. Local entrepreneu…
The Cultural Economy of Development in Egypt
The article presents a new overview on economic transition in Egypt, emphasizing the role of culture in shaping its recent economic history. Since partial independence, and culminating in the heyday of the Nasserite regime, ‘economic nationalism’ became a predominant national identity mark and a concept central to a local sense of authenticity. The article discusses the meaning of economic nationalism and why it turned such a powerful symbol of E…
Cities in the Middle East
Market Welfare in the Early-Modern Ottoman Economy—A Historiographic Overview with Many Questions
In early-modern Ottoman economy the notion of market welfare proposed here meant a system that partially sti fled competition and efficiency for the sake of economic stability and equity for those established within its boundaries. Such a system worked even in the face of political decentralization when economic regulation from "above" (Istanbul and "the state") was seemingly on the wane. Discussing available research and raising questions for fu…
Reading Advertisements in a Colonial/Development Context
Journal Article Reading Advertisements in a Colonial/Development Context: Cigarette Advertising and Identity Politics in Egypt, c1919–1939 Get access Relli Shechter Relli Shechter Department of Middle East Studies, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Social History, Volume 39, Issue 2, Winter 2005, Pages 483–503, https://doi.org/10.1353/jsh.2005.0158 P…
Selling Luxury
Around the mid-19th century, the cigarette, the latest fashion in tobacco consumption, gained popularity in Egypt, as it did globally and throughout the Ottoman Empire. Some fifty years later, the cigarette had become the predominant smoking preference in Egypt, and luxury Egyptian cigarettes were being exported around the world. Indeed, Egyptian and Turkish brands played a significant role in introducing cigarettes to different parts of the glob…
Reading Advertisements in a Colonial/Development Context
Journal Article Reading Advertisements in a Colonial/Development Context: Cigarette Advertising and Identity Politics in Egypt, c1919–1939 Get access Relli Shechter Relli Shechter Department of Middle East Studies, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Social History, Volume 39, Issue 2, Winter 2005, Pages 483–503, https://doi.org/10.1353/jsh.2005.0158 P…
Selling Luxury
Around the mid-19th century, the cigarette, the latest fashion in tobacco consumption, gained popularity in Egypt, as it did globally and throughout the Ottoman Empire. Some fifty years later, the cigarette had become the predominant smoking preference in Egypt, and luxury Egyptian cigarettes were being exported around the world. Indeed, Egyptian and Turkish brands played a significant role in introducing cigarettes to different parts of the glob…
The Cultural Economy of Development in Egypt
The article presents a new overview on economic transition in Egypt, emphasizing the role of culture in shaping its recent economic history. Since partial independence, and culminating in the heyday of the Nasserite regime, ‘economic nationalism’ became a predominant national identity mark and a concept central to a local sense of authenticity. The article discusses the meaning of economic nationalism and why it turned such a powerful symbol of E…
Glocal Mediators
This article discusses the business strategies formulated by Egyptian marketers as they established their enterprises to meet new multinational corporations' (MNCs') demand for marketing—research, promotion, and advertising services. This transition occurred during a period of economic liberalization, known locally as the infitah (open-door era), and rapid economic growth, resulting from the regional oil-boom of the early 1970s. Local entrepreneu…
Cities in the Middle East
From effendi to infitā ī? Consumerism and Its Malcontents in the Emergence of Egyptian Market Society
This article studies intellectual responses of the Egyptian middle class, or effendiyya, to the development of local consumer society during the 1970s. Effendiyya opposition to Sadat's economic reforms (infitā) was ample in films, film reviews, and academic writing. The most emphatic objection was raised against a transition from production- to consumption-based social stratification and society. New consumerism represented the unjust reign of th…
Legislating the Progressive Arab Society
This article examines the 1964 interim constitutions of Egypt, Iraq, and Syria as markers of a two-decade-long shift in Arab constitutional design—moving from individual liberal rights toward a new regional social contract centered on social rights. The vision of a progressive society rested on two principles of collective welfare: solidarity—expressed through constitutional commitments to collective well-being—and social justice, which aimed to …
Selling Luxury
Around the mid-19th century, the cigarette, the latest fashion in tobacco consumption, gained popularity in Egypt, as it did globally and throughout the Ottoman Empire. Some fifty years later, the cigarette had become the predominant smoking preference in Egypt, and luxury Egyptian cigarettes were being exported around the world. Indeed, Egyptian and Turkish brands played a significant role in introducing cigarettes to different parts of the glob…
Cities in the Middle East
Market Welfare in the Early-Modern Ottoman Economy—A Historiographic Overview with Many Questions
In early-modern Ottoman economy the notion of market welfare proposed here meant a system that partially sti fled competition and efficiency for the sake of economic stability and equity for those established within its boundaries. Such a system worked even in the face of political decentralization when economic regulation from "above" (Istanbul and "the state") was seemingly on the wane. Discussing available research and raising questions for fu…
Reading Advertisements in a Colonial/Development Context
Journal Article Reading Advertisements in a Colonial/Development Context: Cigarette Advertising and Identity Politics in Egypt, c1919–1939 Get access Relli Shechter Relli Shechter Department of Middle East Studies, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Social History, Volume 39, Issue 2, Winter 2005, Pages 483–503, https://doi.org/10.1353/jsh.2005.0158 P…
Glocal Mediators
This article discusses the business strategies formulated by Egyptian marketers as they established their enterprises to meet new multinational corporations' (MNCs') demand for marketing—research, promotion, and advertising services. This transition occurred during a period of economic liberalization, known locally as the infitah (open-door era), and rapid economic growth, resulting from the regional oil-boom of the early 1970s. Local entrepreneu…
The Cultural Economy of Development in Egypt
The article presents a new overview on economic transition in Egypt, emphasizing the role of culture in shaping its recent economic history. Since partial independence, and culminating in the heyday of the Nasserite regime, ‘economic nationalism’ became a predominant national identity mark and a concept central to a local sense of authenticity. The article discusses the meaning of economic nationalism and why it turned such a powerful symbol of E…
From effendi to infitā ī? Consumerism and Its Malcontents in the Emergence of Egyptian Market Society
This article studies intellectual responses of the Egyptian middle class, or effendiyya, to the development of local consumer society during the 1970s. Effendiyya opposition to Sadat's economic reforms (infitā) was ample in films, film reviews, and academic writing. The most emphatic objection was raised against a transition from production- to consumption-based social stratification and society. New consumerism represented the unjust reign of th…
The Rise of the Egyptian Middle Class
During the 1970s and early 1980s, Egypt experienced rapid economic growth- the result of a regional oil boom. Oddly, this economic growth hardly registered in Egyptian public discourse, which constantly claimed that the country was experiencing economic and socio-cultural crises. The present book sets out to investigate this discrepancy. It studies the unprecedented socio-economic mobility, the significant changes in the employment structure, and…
A Social Contract Moment
Egypt’s National Action Charter and Saudi Arabia’s Ten-Point Program were issued in 1962 amid a context of domestic and regional insecurity for both regimes. This article reviews the context that shaped each regime’s pledges for both political and (rather similar) socioeconomic reforms, challenging the common analysis of the so-called authoritarian bargain as a simplistic exchange of economic benefits for the political rights of citizens. Both do…
ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Āl Saʿūd’s Other Campaign
This article focuses on the propaganda campaign that advisors to ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Āl Saʿūd (“Ibn Saud”) –– emir, later sultan, of Najd and, later again, king of Najd and Hijaz, and finally king of Saudi Arabia –– engaged in between 1918 and 1932. It argues that this prolonged campaign was as crucial to the establishment of the state as the sultan’s military conquest of the land. I term this a “campaign” because it was a connected attempt, having con…
The Egyptian Social Contract
The Egyptian Social Contract explores the intricacies of the relationship between the state and its citizens, from the establishment of the semi-independent Egyptian nation in 1922 until the 2011 Uprising. The book foregrounds the social history of the social contract: the analysis of state–middle class relations and how these relations have shaped Egyptian society. It studies why and how a social contract that had been reformed in the aftermath …
Legislating the Progressive Arab Society
This article examines the 1964 interim constitutions of Egypt, Iraq, and Syria as markers of a two-decade-long shift in Arab constitutional design—moving from individual liberal rights toward a new regional social contract centered on social rights. The vision of a progressive society rested on two principles of collective welfare: solidarity—expressed through constitutional commitments to collective well-being—and social justice, which aimed to …
Royal Developmentalism
Between 1953 and 1979, oil disruptions – the socioeconomic dislocations caused by petroleum wealth, from inflation and inequality to labor market transformation – reshaped the political economies of Iran and Saudi Arabia, driving both monarchies toward ‘royal developmentalism’, a form of authoritarian modernization. Despite their significant cultural differences, the two states followed similar paths in responding to oil-induced economic challeng…
Political science (12 works) · Islamic Studies and History (11 works) · Law (11 works) · Politics (10 works) · Economics (8 works) · Law (8 works) · Economy (5 works) · Political economy (5 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Art (4 works)