‘Digging in the water?’ Grassroots urbanism, the Egyptian state, and the politics of heritage-making in post-revolution Cairo

A symbiotic relationship between grassroots heritage initiatives and local authorities emerged in post-revolution Cairo, challenging traditional power dynamics. The study analyzes a 2016 workshop by the Cairo Heritage School (CHS), which proposed adaptive reuse for a fifteenth-century palace within UNESCO’s Historic Cairo site. This event, part of a broader urban-focused movement post-2011 revolution, revealed how non-state groups can exercise agency through heritage-work, complicating simplistic 'with' and 'without' power frameworks. The research highlights the potential for heritage-making to serve as a space where marginalized actors influence authority structures.

Panetta, C. (2020). ‘Digging in the water?’ Grassroots urbanism, the Egyptian state, and the politics of heritage-making in post-revolution Cairo. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 26(12), 1221–1239. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2020.1747102