The British occupation authorities drafted the first law regulating sex work in Egypt, merely 6 weeks after British forces defeated the Egyptian army and occupied the country in 1882. The era of regulated sex work would last until 1951 when it finally became criminalized – just a few years before the end of British occupation. But the story of “Sex Work in Colonial Egypt” – the title of the book whose author is our guest today – is not merely a story about imperial and nationalist approaches towards prostitution. Francesca Biancani tells a much more fascinating and complex story about modernity, Egypt’s place in the global economy, migration, urbanization, gender and labor politics, during this era.

Guest: Francesca Biancani, Associate Professor, Department of Political and Social Sciences, Bologna University

Interviewer: Khaled Ezzelarab, Associate Professor of Practice, Journalism and Mass Communication Department, and Director of the Middle East Studies Program, American University in Cairo

Researcher: Wafaa ElSaid

Book: Biancani, Francesca. Sex Work in Colonial Egypt: Women, Modernity and the Global Economy. Edited by Francesca Biancani. vol. 72., I.B. Tauris, 2018.

Intro Music: Festival of Eid Joy by Adiiswanto, licensed via Pixabay Music

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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this podcast series are those of participants and do not reflect the opinions of The American University in Cairo. Copyright is held by the appropriate AUC school, office or department unless otherwise stated. Requests for permission to quote or use any content should be addressed to the appropriate AUC school, office or department directly.