UC San Diego

Through the application of sociological theory to the historical study of Egypt under the British occupation (1882-1952), this dissertation argues that sport plays a significant role as a transformative element in society and politics, rather than merely a reflective one. It demonstrates that sport, and its concomitant discourse, acts as a channel to convey the ideas of intellectuals in a more accessible way. Acknowledging the role of sport restores the agency of a broader segment of the population to negotiate the meaning, and ultimate impact of, particular ideologies.

The enduring nature of sporting institutions in post-revolutionary Egypt was built upon foundations laid during the preceding seven decades of British occupation. Through the use of national newspapers and magazines, supplemented by archival material from Britain and the International Olympic Committee, this case study demonstrates how sport can serve as an organizational force that is able to engender political transformations. This dissertation highlights the development of sport in Egypt from its origins as a tool used by the colonizers to reinforce their rule into a multifarious series of perspectives on what “Egyptian sport” could mean. These narratives slowly coalesced into a single ideal of a “sportsman” who transcended sectarian, ethnic, and class differences and represented his nation on the world stage at the Olympics and beyond in the 1920s and 1930s.

By the time of the 1952 Egyptian Revolution, sport had established itself as a potent channel for spreading ideology, and thus there was more continuity than discontinuity between British and post-revolutionary policy. It was not until the 1956 Suez Crisis that a shift occurred in which the Egyptian government abandoned its attempts to become one among the club of Europeans, instead seeking a leadership role in the Arab World.