A Poetics of Political Economy in Egypt is a post-modern study revolving around the role played by petty commodity producers in Egypt's incorporation into the global economic architecture. The author focuses on two periods: the early 1900s, when free trade was imposed by the country's colonial master, and the 1970s and 1980s, when Anwar Sadat's infitah policies reopened Egypt to the West after it had been largely closed off during the Nasser era.