Oral History Interview of Fawzy Mansour

Abstract

Fawzi Mansour is considered to be one of the most prominent Marxist economists of his generation. Although he did not play a direct role in the economic policies undertaken during the Nasserite era, his account enriches our knowledge of this period since he offers a critical view of this experience. Mansour graduated from university in 1945 and completed his PhD at Edinburg University (U.K) on The Development of Underdeveloped Countries within the Framework of an International Economy. In the early 1950s, Mansour taught economics at Cairo University; and was part of the campaign to defend the democracy and independence of the University, against the encroachments of the Free Officers regime. As a Marxist economist, he was also very critical of the new economic policies led by the new regime. According to him, the Free Officers, in their different tendencies (from right wing to left wing), did not have a clear vision of the economic policies to be followed nor did they have any solid understanding of economics. The experts, which were appointed in the new economic institutions (such as the Permanent Council for National Production), led policies encouraging foreign investments in the Egyptian economy. In response, Mansour held a series of lectures in 1954 attacking these new economic policies. He criticised them on the grounds that the economic development of Egypt could only come through a concrete industrialization policy. He also argued that historically foreign capital had never contributed to the development of Egyptian industries; and that on the contrary, it had largely contributed in turning Egypt, into what he called a “cotton farm” for the global textile industry of Europe. According to Mansour, this series of lectures was the main reason behind his exclusion from Cairo University in 1954. In the following years, Mansour refused to hold any position in the state apparatus, choosing instead to work as a lawyer. It is during this same period, that he tightened his links with the communist movement in Egypt. However during the period of 1955-1956 a series of events happed in Egypt – the construction of the high dam, the nationalization of the Suez Canal… – that led him to become friendlier towards the regime. Indeed, Mansour started writing articles supporting the nascent policies of economic planning, for the magazine Al Massaa, founded by Khaled Mohi el-Din. In 1958, at the request of Gamal Abdel Nasser, Mansour was asked by the director of Bank Misr Ahmed Fou’ad, to head the research unit of the Bank. He declined the offer because he was asked to swear allegiance to Nasser. Fawzi Mansour was not present during the process of elaboration and implementation of the first Five-Year plan, as he was imprisoned, between 1959 and 1964, along with many other Egyptian communists. But in 1965, in the context of growing economic problems, he was asked, at the request of Nasser, to write a report on the economic situation in Egypt. Nasser was, in that period, moving towards the left. Although Mansour was favourable to economic planning, he was critical of states’ pattern of industrialization. According to him, the emphasis had been put, during the first five years plan, on consumption-goods industries, rather than on capital goods. He explains this general orientation by the background of the ruling elite, which came from the middle and petty bourgeoisie and thus aspired to consumerism. One notable example is that of transportation: rather than developing a comprehensive public-transportation system, the public sector started producing private cars, which was economically speaking an irrational choice. Priority should have been given to basic needs industries producing for the masses. Moreover, the implementation of the first Five-Year plan was affected by the fact that the plan was implemented by the same personnel that was running the enterprises before their nationalizations. Indeed, many of the owners and associates of the nationalized enterprises, who once had resisted the nationalization policies, were now running their old businesses as public-sector directors and employees. Fawzi Mansour opens his second interview by analyzing the reasons behind his opposition to the regime in the late 1950s, which led to his arrest in 1959. Mansour was opposed to Egypt’s unity with Syria, which he viewed as a way to reinforce the baathists in Syria against the strong communist movement. On a more national level, he was against the regime’s attempt to rely on the bourgeoisie to implement the objectives it had fixed in terms of industrialisation, during the early phases of economic planning. The government tried to cooperate with capitalists in most issues relating to the national economy. Mansour considered that this attempt was destined for failure given the nature of the Egyptian bourgeoisie, which tended to take on projects which realized quick benefits, without taking many risks. Mansour spent five years in jail (1959-1964) along with many other Egyptian communists. During this period, they were kept informed of the political developments outside, through the press and the radio. When, in 1961 and 1962, the nationalization policies were launched, a number of communists in jail started supporting the regime, considering these policies as a step towards the socialist transformation they aspired for. Although he supported nationalization policies, Mansour did not become a full supporter of the regime. He believed that without democracy and free speech any step forward was doomed to failure. He points to the fact that even though Nasser repressed communists for years, he was, to a certain extent influenced by their ideas and thought. He read their writing and followed their debates. Mansour believes that the launching of nationalization policies in the early 1960s was partly due to this ascendancy. When he was released in 1964, he joined the Tanzim Tali’i, a secret organisation inside the Socialist Union (al-Ittiahad Ishtiraki). In this specific context, he was asked in 1965, on the request of Gamal Abdel Nasser, to write a report on the economic situation of Egypt just after the first Five-Year plan. In the report, entitled Akhtar al- Wad’ el-Iqtissadi al-Rahin wa Kaif Yuajah (The dangers of the present economic situation and how to handle them), Mansour underlined the problems facing the Egyptian economy and made recommendations for the second Five-Year plan, which was to be launched that same year. Discussing the report, Mansour points out that the goal fixed by the government, which was to double the national income in a period of ten year, was not in itself unrealistic. On a theoretical level, it was possible for an underdeveloped country to achieve this goal. But in the specific case of Egypt, this was impossible because of the lack of democracy. The elaboration and the implementation of the plan required a certain degree of conviction and participation from workers and employees. In practice, they were not given the chance to participate at any level in the decision making processes. Moreover, the economic decisions were not guided by the interests of the working classes. In this respect, Mansour draws an interesting comparison between Mohamed Ali’s experiment in modernization and Nasser’s political project. Mohamed Ali began his rule by liquidating the nascent bourgeoisie, which could have shared and supported his project, relying instead on the state bureaucracy. Similarly, Nasser refused to allow any share of power to the classes that could have supported his project: the working class and the peasantry. This factor explains the rapid collapse of the two regimes. Analysing the consequences of the 1967 defeat, he argues that Nasser feared that the bourgeoisie had taken advantage of the destabilization of the regime to turn against him. He thus chose to make concessions to this class by shifting the economic policies. He, for instance, appointed in the government, right wing politicians, such as Abdel Aziz Higazi. Mansour finally speaks about his experience at the Institute for Socialist Studies (Ma’had al dirasat al-Ishtirakiya), where he taught economic s for several years.