ABSTRACT
Street vending is not new to Egyptian society, yet very few sociologists have attempted to understand the real etiological base of the practice, and its direct influence on the lives of the poor in Egypt. This chapter examines the impact of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 on street vendors in Cairo, and the strategies they employed to respond to public protests and mass revolutionary congregations in the city. It focuses on the social history of street vending in Cairo and people's perception of the activity as a social survival mechanism for poor and underprivileged families. The chapter considers the strategy adopted by street vendors in Cairo in response to the protests following the January Revolution. The discourse of illegitimacy and informality has been challenged since the 2011 January Revolution. In Egyptian culture, people usually make a distinction between legitimate and illegitimate work, especially when discussing work in the informal sector.
