Colonizing Egypt 1

Colonizing Egypt begins by describing the first interactions of Europeans with the Egyptians. Even though the first encounters of Europeans and the outside world were encounters through exhibitions, it never the less gave them a sense of the “other” despite it not being the real thing. The Egyptians, when first learnt about these exhibitions, were furious; not only were the exhibitions degrading, but also because they portrayed Egyptians and Egypt as pieces of objects.  However, The exhibitions give us an idea of how Europeans saw the Egyptians.

When Europeans began infiltrating into Egypt they described it as chaotic.  Egypt for them seemed out of the ordinary as if it were a carnival or huge market place.  Because Egypt had come under the control of the British, they saw it necessary to change and modernize them. Unlike other colonies, Egypt was not only exploited for its resources, but people too. The British had wanted to govern them properly but could not do so with the chaos at hand. The formations of a new army, the creation of a new housing system and the allocation of new schools and agricultural system helped the British colonize Egyptians effectively.

 During the process of colonization, Egyptians were given the impression that the process of modernizing Egypt were changes that were for there own social good. However, its clear that the dramatic transformation that took place in the 1830’s were unbearable for the Egyptians. For instance, Restrictions had been put on there freedom of movement. Consequently, those who wanted to travel had to get permission. These transformations were not for their own sake, but for the sake of Britain to force them into a capitalist system. Furthermore, the transformation was aimed at disciplining and coordinating Egyptian society.  According to Foucault this was not to expand Egyptian society, but to infiltrate re-order and colonize. Because Europeans, as explained in chapter one, thought of Egyptians as a chaotic people, these new laws and structures sought in one way or another to modernize them according European style.

For instance, the new army that was formed created a community of them where they would be together during times of peace and war. This community of soldiers even over looked the production industry. While the new army did not resemble anything of that of Europeans, it was the beginning stages for order and a way to start controlling the Egyptian people.

         The British also colonized the Egyptians by introducing to them a new housing model. This model sought to put a population depending on their class. In a capitalist society there are the middle class the rich and the poor. The construction and the allocation of people to their house was a way to categorize people to a specific group. The model housing was also used for the purpose of bringing order. It divided up the people and contained them in their social ranking, but its main purpose was to introduce the people to the system of capitalism

-OMG