Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the temporality of Egyptian projects of markedly diverse scales (local football pitches and desert mega projects). It shows that the project time is iterative - a constant hunt with few clear results - and argues that precisely this gives the project form its political purchase.

Paper long abstract:

Projects (mashari') are ever-present in contemporary Egypt. Men from most social classes search for and execute small business projects to supplement meagre wages. The militarised state, likewise, invests heavily in desert projects: bridges, roads, land reclamations, and a New Administrative Capital.

This paper examines a temporal logic underpinning Egyptian projects across scales. Drawing on participant observation with men who construct neighbourhood football pitches and public debates on mega projects, it suggests that projects evoke dreams of prosperity in a future which everyone accepts will never fully arrive. While conjured as manageable platforms for value creation in the 'near future' (Guyer, 2007), projects often end up half-completed, abandoned and deferred. As soon as one is up and running, the promised gains at the horizon, it is time to start projecting anew.

The paper illustrates why an ethnography of circumscribed football projects could cast new light on the state's obsession with mega-projects. Egypt's 'desert dreams' have been duly criticised for never fulfilling their promises (Sims, 2016), yet little has been said about why the authorities continue to plan and project, despite all. Could it be that the pursuit itself makes projects cherished? What if this iterative temporality - continuous action and always new visions - constitutes one of the project forms' true values? If so, sober comparisons between plans and results fail to fully capture what is at stake. Let us instead consider Egyptian projects as attractive dreamwork and masculinised statecraft: idealised avenues for provision, crisis management, and future-oriented, bold action.