Dr. Saeed El-Masry

Egypt

Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Arts at Cairo University, and an advisor to the Minister of Culture on the development of the cultural system in Egypt. Dr. El-Masry is a cultural anthropologist and holds a PhD in sociology. He won the United Nations Award for Excellence in Human Development in 2013 for the Egypt Human Development Report, which he participated in preparing in 2010. He also won the Arab Grand Prize for Heritage for the book Eaadat Entaj Al Turath Al Shaaby; Kayfa Yatshabath Al Fokaraa Belhayat fee thel Al Nodra (Reproduction of Folklore; How the {oor cling to life in light of Scarcity) in 2014. He has published many scientific books, the most recent of which were Al Tafrah Al Shabaya wa Al Tahwlat Al Dempghrafyah fee Al Alam Al Araby (The Youth Boom and Demographic Transformations in the Arab world), Azmat Al Majal Al Deeny fee Masr (The Crisis of the Religious Sphere in Egypt), Malhamat Al Mwatanah bayn Sokook Al Watanayah was Awlamat Al Hokok Al Insanyah (The Saga of Citizenship between Nationalism and the Globalization of Human Rights), Maazak Al Adalah Al Thagafyah fee Masr (The Dilemma of Cultural Justice in Egypt), and Turath Al Iste’ela’a bayn Al Folklor wa Al Majal Al Deeny (Legacy of Supremacy between Folklore and Religion).

About The Book

A 357-page, 7-chapter work of cultural anthropology that combines theory and field research. The book discusses religion and folklore, stopping to address a concept with heavy social connotations: Supremacy. The author traces the roots of this phenomenon in folklore as well as in political Islam groups that have stoked the spirit of supremacy in political participation in a manner that contributed to the spread of extremism, hate and sectarianism. The book additionally sheds the light on cultural discrimination in Egyptian folklore, as well as the traditional forms of discrimination on the basis of social status, age, residence, race and appearance. The book was researched and written with considerable scientific integrity.

Published: 2019