Doctoral Dissertation Research: The role of infrastructure in rural political engagement

近年来，社会科学家越来越关注基层政治动员和公民观念变化的原因和后果。然而，他们的大部分研究都是在城市地区进行的，往往强调城市生活经验和获得全球联系在促进政治参与方面所发挥的作用。该奖项支持的研究旨在回答一个互补的问题：如果城市化和全球化如此重要，为什么农村社区也产生政治上活跃的公民？这是一个重要的问题，其答案将有助于更好地了解全世界参与性民主的运作。为了解决这个问题，罗格斯大学人类学博士生Nada El-Kouny在Becky Schulties博士的监督下，将在埃及的一个农村哈姆雷特和附近的城镇进行为期12个月的多地点研究，埃及是一个以政治激进主义而闻名的国家，因此是调查这些问题的特别合适的地点。研究人员将重点关注基础设施供应，作为农村地区与遥远的政府办公室和官员联系的主要途径。El-Kouny将使用各种社会科学方法来收集数据，包括档案研究，以调查研究哈姆雷特的历史和政府的互动，如道路建设项目，学校建设，电力的到来，并改善供水。她还将绘制哈姆雷特的社会、亲属和流动网络图;进行一次哈姆雷特人口普查;并举行焦点小组会议。在镇上，她将采访关键的线人，以了解更多的该镇的历史。这项研究的结果将通过日常生活中体验政治的世俗基础设施的透镜，提高对农村人民公民身份和政治活动的理解。调查结果也将有助于有关决策者解释可能发生的政治动员。

In recent years, social scientists have devoted increasing attention to understanding the causes and consequences of grassroots political mobilization and changing notions of citizenship. However, most of their research has been conducted in urban locations, often emphasizing the role played by the experience of urban living and access to global connections in fostering political engagement. The research supported by this award seeks to answer a complementary question: If urbanism and globalism are so important, why is it that rural communities also produce politically active citizens? It is an important question whose answer will help to better understand the functioning of participatory democracies throughout the world. To address this question, Rutgers University anthropology doctoral student, Nada El-Kouny, with the supervision of Dr. Becky Schulties, will undertake 12 months of multi-sited research in a rural hamlet and nearby town in Egypt, a country well-known for political activism and thus a particularly appropriate site for investigating these issues. The researcher will focus on infrastructure provisioning as a primary avenue through which rural areas are connected to often faraway government offices and officials. El-Kouny will use a mix of social science methods to gather data, including archival research to investigate the study hamlet's history and government interactions, such as road building projects, school construction, the coming of electricity, and improved access to water. She also will map hamlet social, kin, and mobility networks; conduct a hamlet census; and hold focus groups. In the town, she will interview key informants to learn more of the town's history. Findings from this research will improve understanding of citizenship and political activism of rural people through the lens of the mundane infrastructure through which politics is experienced in daily life. Findings will also be of interest to policy makers concerned to explain political mobilization wherever it may occur.