Mahragan: Class, Leisure and Politics in Cairo

Abstract

For the young men of the Cairo neighborhoods, mahragan music has become, since the mid-2000s, an important media form to criticize its condition of marginalization. Mahragan music was already popular among all social groups when the 2011 political events took place in Egypt, having spread throughout the city of Cairo, becoming a cultural expression associated with counter culture discourses. Mahragan - challenges the marginalization of young, lower-class Cairenes. This article examines how pro- ducers and consumers of mahragan (re) produce informal social spaces to organize their own night “parties” - a literal translation of the term mahragan - in Cairo. The argument is that these po- pular raves represent an alternative to the cultural marginaliza- tion of young Cairenes of the lower classes. The article provides insight into how the independence that the mahragan repre- sents and affords these young men embodies a direct challenge to state sovereignty and neo-liberal governance in the field of culture in contemporary Egypt.