The Rise of the Egyptian Middle Class : Cambridge University Press : 9781108474481 : 1108474489 : 20 Dec 2018 : 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 the spread of mass consumption by means of analyses of thestatistical data and the ethnographic evidence. I argue that, during the oil boom, Egypt experienced a dramatic expansion of the middle class-now increasingly representing 'average' Egyptians. In addition to analyses of the empirical evidence, this book analyzes relevant, contemporary Egyptian public discourse by examining a wide cultural array that includes: academic writing,