ABSTRACT
Consumerism is one of the channels through which traditional man glimpses new worlds and learns to deal with sophisticated technology. Popular culture, with consumerism as its central axis, should be understood as a symbolic representation of needs originating in everyday life. These needs are both economic and moral. The Open Door Policy initiated in seventies brought forth formidable changes in the economic and social structure of Egypt. These changes strengthened dependency relations and institutionalized free market relations. The quarter of Al – Sharrabiyya is located in the north–east of Cairo and is one of the more recently constructed mass urban neighbourhoods in the city. The whole area of Al – Sharrabiyya comprises five administrative units. Three levels of popular interaction can be distinguished: the interaction between quarter and outside world of the city; the interaction between the two sections of the population in the quarter; and the daily interaction in the main street and in the back streets of quarter.
