SEARCH

Search Details

KAWAMURA Yusuke
Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies / Department of International Cooperation Policy Studies
Associate Professor

Researcher basic information

■ Degree
  • Doctor of Philosophy
■ Research Keyword
  • Comparative Politics
  • Middle East Politics
  • Political Regime
  • Authoritarian Regime
  • Welfare Policy
  • Egypt
  • Jordan
  • Tunisia
■ Research Areas
  • Humanities & social sciences / Politics / Coｍparative Politics

Research activity information

■ Award
  • Jul. 2022 Kobe University, Maenosono Best Research Awards

■ Paper
  • 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

  • Yusuke Kawamura
    Jan. 2022, Journal of International Cooperation Studies, 29(2) (2), 119 - 131, Japanese
    Research institution
    Link to Kobe Univ. Repository (Kernel)

  • Yusuke Kawamura
    This article focuses on two pension reforms in Egypt in order to understand the dynamics of social policy reform under authoritarian rule. One was supported by the World Bank and promulgated in 2010. It included drastic changes, such as the introduction of a defined benefit scheme, and ultimately failed. Another was successfully implemented in 2019. Compared to the 2010 reform, the 2019 reform involved only parametric change (such as increasing the retirement age and amalgamating social insurance funds), in order to mitigate the criticisms that had been made of the previous pension reform and to facilitate gradual, steady enhancement of the programme’s sustainability. The findings suggest that perceptions of authoritarian leaders as having wide-ranging discretion in decision-making concerning public policy and being able to more decisively implement harsh social reform compared with democratic political leaders need to be reconsidered.
    Jun. 2021, Public Administration Issues, 2021(5) (5), 89 - 106, English, International magazine
    [Refereed]
    Scientific journal
    Link to Kobe Univ. Repository (Kernel)

  • Yusuke Kawamura
    Jul. 2019, Journal of International Cooperation Studies, 27(1) (1), 47 - 72, Japanese
    Research institution

  • 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

  • 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

■ MISC
■ Books And Other Publications
■ Lectures, oral presentations, etc.
  • 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

■ Affiliated Academic Society
  • 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

■ Research Themes
  • 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

TOP