Research activity information

• Jul. 2022 Kobe University, Maenosono Best Research Awards

• Can Capability-based Education and Social Policy Help Resolve the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Gender Paradox? A Case Study of Tunisia

  Pınar Çuhadar, Yusuke Kawamura, Rana Jawad

  Informa UK Limited, Mar. 2025, Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 26(3) (3), 387 - 412, English, International magazine, Co-authored internationally

  [Refereed]

  Scientific journal


• Public Sector Employment as a Social Welfare Policy: The “Social Contract” and Failed Job Creation for Youth in Egypt

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Although the IMF and the World Bank have advocated public sector reforms for market-oriented economic development, Egyptian authoritarian leaders have avoided such reforms. Egypt maintains a large public sector with a significant number of young Egyptians among its ranks. However, the public sector has shortcomings such as overstaffed government departments, deteriorating working conditions, and employee protests. This study uses the “social contract” concept to understand why Egypt’s political leaders have preserved this inefficient institution. The logic of the “social contract” works under two conditions: generous welfare as the main source of the regime’s legitimacy and a lack of accurate information concerning the extent to which people can tolerate painful reforms under authoritarian rule. Contrary to the conventional understanding, a lack of democratic institutions imposes “shackles” upon authoritarian leaders rather than giving them wide discretion regarding policymaking and the manipulation of institutions for their survival. The findings thus offer important insights into the dynamics of authoritarianism.

  SAGE Publications, Mar. 2022, Contemporary Review of the Middle East, 9(1) (1), 31 - 50, English

  [Refereed]

  Scientific journal


• The COVID-19 Pandemic and Social Protection in Egypt

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Jan. 2022, Journal of International Cooperation Studies, 29(2) (2), 119 - 131, Japanese

  Research institution

  Link to Kobe Univ. Repository (Kernel)


• Pension Reform in an Authoritarian State: A Case Study of Egypt

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Jun. 2021, Public Administration Issues, 2021(5) (5), 89 - 106, English, International magazine

  [Refereed]

  Scientific journal

  Link to Kobe Univ. Repository (Kernel)


• State and Non-State Actors in the Authoritarian Welfare Regime: The Case of Egypt

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Jul. 2019, Journal of International Cooperation Studies, 27(1) (1), 47 - 72, Japanese

  Research institution


• Social Welfare under Authoritarian Rule: Change and Path Dependence in the Social Welfare System in Mubarak's Egypt

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Aug. 2016, English

  Doctoral thesis


• Social Security and the "Social Contract" in Egypt: The Cases of Food Subsidies and Public Employment

  Yusuke Kawamura

  アジア・アフリカ研究所, Jul. 2015, Quarterly Bulletin of Third World Studies, 55(3) (3), 49 - 68, Japanese, Domestic magazine

  [Refereed]

  Scientific journal


• Structural Adjustment and Social Protection in the Middle East and North Africa: Food Subsidies in Jordan

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Jan. 2015, Contemporary Arab Studies, 8(1) (1), 81 - 95, English, International magazine

  [Refereed]

  Scientific journal


• Political Liberalisation in the Arab Socialist Regime (2)

  Yusuke Kawamura

  京都大学法学会, Dec. 2010, Kyoto Law Review, 168(3) (3), 78 - 103, Japanese, Domestic magazine

  Research institution


• Political Liberalisation in the Arab Socialist Regime (1)

  Yusuke Kawamura

  京都大学法学会, Nov. 2010, Kyoto Law Review, 168(2) (2), 42 - 70, Japanese, Domestic magazine

  Research institution

• Book Review: Takuro Kikkawa, Politics, Military Affairss and Social Movements in Jordan (Koyo Shobo, 2020)

  Yusuke Kawamura

  26 Jun. 2021, The Book Review Press, 3501, 4, Japanese

  Book review


• Book Review: M. Kisaichi, S. Hamanaka and T. Yokota eds., Handbook on Middle East and Islamic Studies (Akashi Shoten, 2017).

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Mar. 2018, Journal of Islamic Area Studies, 10, 137, Japanese

  Book review


• Book Review: Clement Moore Henry and Robert Springborg, Globalization and the Politics of Development in the Middle East, 2nd edition

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Jan. 2014, New Middle Eastern Studies, English

  Book review


• Social Protection and Structural Adjustment Programmes in the Middle East and North Africa: The Case of Jordanian Food Subsidies

  Yusuke Kawamura

  This article is a part of "The Origins, Development and Practice of Economic and Social Strategies in the Middle East from Earliest Times to the Modern Day (Part II)", Bulletin of the Council for British Research in the Levant, vol. 8, pp.59-75.

  Taylor & Francis, Oct. 2013, Bulletin for the Council for British Research in the Levant, 8(1) (1), 70 - 72, English, International magazine

  Report research institution

• Transformation of Egypt's Authoritarian Welfare Regime: From the Arab Socialist Model to the Neoliberal Model?

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Single work, Durham University, Jan. 2020, English

  Report


• The Politics of National Reintegration: Between Welfare Statism and Liberal Nationalism

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Contributor, Chapter 10: International Labour Movements in the Arab World, Nakanishiya, Aug. 2017, Japanese, ISBN: 9784779511905

  Scholarly book


• Redistributive Politics in the Arab Authoritarian Countries: Change and Path Dependence in the Egyptian Welfare Regime

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Single work, Minerva, Apr. 2017, Japanese, ISBN: 9784623080687

  Scholarly book


• New Social Risks and Reconstruction of the Public Spheres: Comparative Analysis of Japan, South Korea, Canada and Egypt

  Yusuke Kawamura, Hideki Kido, Yuki Tsuji, Juyoung An, Masaki Kondo

  Kyoto University, Global Center of Excellence for Reconstruction of the Intimate and Public Spheres in 21st Century Asia, Sep. 2010, Japanese

  Report

• Welfare Reform and Characteristics of Authoritarian Rule in Sisi's Egypt

  Yusuke Kawamura

  5th ISA Forum of Sociology, Jul. 2025, English, Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco, International conference

  Oral presentation


• Food Security and Agricultural Development in the Middle East and North Africa: Analyzing Egypt and Morocco

  Yusuke Kawamura

  58th Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Nov. 2024, English, Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Online Conference, United States, International conference

  Oral presentation


• Ironic United States-China Cooperation in Rewriting Egypt's Populist Social Contract: Economic and Welfare Reform under Sisi

  Yusuke Kawamura, Mohamed Ettawy

  30th International Congress of the German Middle East Studies Association for Contemporary Research and Documentation (DAVO), Sep. 2024, English, Georg August University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, International conference, Co-authored internationally

  Oral presentation


• Theoretical Implications of Social Inclusion Programmes under Authoritarian Rule: Analysing Social Investment in Contemporary Egypt

  Yusuke Kawamura

  10th Anniversary Conference of the MENA Social Policy Network, Jul. 2023, English, Mohammed V University, Rabat (Participating via online), Morocco, International conference

  Oral presentation


• Effects of Bilateral Aid from China on Social Development in the Middle East and North Africa: A Case Study of Egypt

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Annual Conference of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, Jul. 2023, English, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom, International conference

  Oral presentation


• Social Protection and the COVID-19 Crisis

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Annual Conference of the Japan Association for Comparative Politics, Jun. 2021, Japanese, Keio University, Online Conference, Domestic conference

  Oral presentation


• Transformation of the Egyptian Welfare Regime: From the Arab Socialist Model to the Neoliberal Model?

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Research Lecture, Dec. 2019, English, Dr. Seaker Chan Center for Comparative Political Development, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

  [Invited]

  Public discourse


• Transformation of the Authoritarian Welfare Regime in Egypt: From the Arab Socialist Model to the Neoliberal Model?

  Yusuke Kawamura

  4th Conference of the MENA Social Policy Network, Oct. 2019, English, American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt, International conference

  Oral presentation


• The Outsourcing of Social Welfare Programmes and Islamic Charity in Egypt

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Annual Conference of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, Jun. 2019, English, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom, International conference

  Oral presentation


• Pension Reform under Authoritarian Rule: The Case of Egypt

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Annual Conference of the Japan Association of International Relations, Oct. 2018, Japanese, Saitama, Japan, Domestic conference

  Oral presentation


• Evolution and Change of the Populist Welfare Regime in Egypt

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Annual Conference of the Japan Association for Comparative Politics, Jun. 2018, Japanese, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan, Domestic conference

  Oral presentation


• Public Employment as a Social Welfare Policy: Job Creation in the Public Sector and Youth Exclusion in Egypt

  Yusuke Kawamura

  International Conference on "Social Policy in the Islamic World", May 2018, English, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran, Islamic Republic of, International conference

  Oral presentation


• Organised Labouor and Political Leaders under Authoritarianism: The Comparative Analysis of Egypt and Mexico

  河村 有介

  Annual Conference of the Japan Association for Middle Eastern Studies, May 2016, Japanese, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan, Domestic conference

  Oral presentation


• Structural Adjustment, Social Contracts and Social Protection in the Middle East: Food Subsidies in Jordan

  Yusuke Kawamura

  World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies, Aug. 2014, English, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, International conference

  Oral presentation


• The Transformation of the Social Welfare Institutions in Egypt: From Nasser to Sadat

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Annual Conference of British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, Jun. 2014, English, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom, International conference

  Oral presentation


• Politico-economic Change and Survival Strategies of Authoritarian Leaders: Food Subsidies in Mubarak's Egypt

  河村 有介

  Annual Conference of the Japan Association for Middle Eastern Studies, May 2012, Japanese, Toyo University, Tokyo, Japan, Domestic conference

  Oral presentation


• Political Liberalization in 1970s' Egypt

  河村 有介

  KIAS/G-COE Workshop on "Globalization and Socio-political Transformation: Asian and the Middle Eastern Dimension", Jun. 2010, English, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan, Domestic conference

  Public symposium

• British Society for Middle Eastern Studies


• Japan Association for Comparative Politics


• Japan Association for Middle East Studies


• Japan Association for Social Policy Studies


• Japan Association of International Relations

• Political Exclusion and Social Inclusion in an Authoritarian Country: Social Investment in Egypt

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI), Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists, Kobe University, Apr. 2024 - Mar. 2028, Principal investigator


• Social Protection in the Middle East and North Africa in an Era of Polycrisis

  Yusuke Kawamura

  The Foundation of Kinoshita Memorial Enterprise, Academic Research Grant, Kobe University, Apr. 2024 - Mar. 2026, Principal investigator

  Competitive research funding


• Analyzing Effects of China's Foreign Aid on Social Protection in the Middle East and North Africa: A Case Study of Egypt

  Yusuke Kawamura

  The Inamori Foundation, Inamori Research Grant, Kobe University, Apr. 2022 - Mar. 2024, Principal investigator

  Competitive research funding


• Social Protection after the "Arab Spring": Comparative Analysis of Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI), Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists, Kobe University, Apr. 2019 - Mar. 2022, Principal investigator

  Competitive research funding


• Welfare Retrenchment and the Outsourcing Strategies of Political Leaders in Egypt

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Japan Society for the Promotion of Science,, Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI), Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows, Ritsumeikan University, Apr. 2017 - Mar. 2019, Principal investigator

  Competitive research funding


• Welfare Retrenchment and the Strategies of Political Leaders in the MENA Region

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Japan Society for the Promotion of Science,, Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI), Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up, Kyoto University, Aug. 2016 - Mar. 2017, Principal investigator

  Competitive research funding


• Social Protection and the Survival Strategies of Political Leaders under Authoritarian Rule: Food Subsidies and the Social Fund for Development (SFD) in the Mubarak Era

  Yusuke Kawamura

  The Murata Science Foundation,, Research Grant, Sep. 2013 - Aug. 2014, Principal investigator

  Competitive research funding


• Social Protection and the Survival Strategies of Political Leaders under Authoritarian Rule: Public Employment in the Mubarak Era

  Yusuke Kawamura

  The Konosuke Matsushita Memorial Foundation,, Research Grant, Oct. 2013 - Jul. 2014, Principal investigator

  Competitive research funding


• Social Welfare Programmes under Authoritarian Rule: Comparative Analysis of the Jordanian and Egyptian Food Subsidy Programmes

  Yusuke Kawamura

  Council for British Research in the Levant (CBRL),, Research Scholarships, Sep. 2012 - Feb. 2013, Principal investigator

  Competitive research funding