Dina Bishara

Dina Bishara serves as Associate Professor of International and Comparative Labor at Cornell University, where she holds a joint appointment in the Department of Global Labor and Work within the School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR School). Her academic profile bridges political science and labor studies with a specialized focus on authoritarian regimes and democratic transitions in the Middle East and North Africa region, particularly examining Egypt and Tunisia as critical case studies.

Bishara's research program centers on the dynamics of state-labor relations under authoritarian rule, analyzing how workers' movements and trade unions challenge repressive regimes through contentious politics. Her scholarship investigates the temporal and spatial dimensions of protest, the role of legacy unions in democratization processes, and the mobilization strategies of precarious and unemployed workers. This work is exemplified in her award-winning book Contesting Authoritarianism: Labor Challenges to the State in Egypt (Cambridge University Press, 2018), which establishes labor as a central actor in authoritarian breakdown.

Analysis of her publication trajectory reveals a consistent scholarly focus on labor's political agency across 15 years of research, with increasing attention to democratic consolidation challenges in Tunisia and theoretical innovations in protest dynamics. Her work demonstrates methodological rigor through comparative case studies and fieldwork-based analysis of labor movements during critical political junctures.

Bishara's scholarly contributions have been recognized through prestigious awards:

• State University of New York (SUNY) Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities (2023)
• Best Fieldwork Award from the Middle East and North Africa Politics Section of the American Political Science Association (2022)
• SERMEISS Book Prize Honorable Mention (2019)
• Research Fellowships at Harvard University, University of Oxford, and German Institute for International and Security Affairs

Her academic service includes presentations at leading institutions including Yale University and the American Political Science Association, while her teaching encompasses social movements, Middle East labor politics, and authoritarianism. Bishara maintains active scholarly engagement through her professional website (dinabishara.com) and ongoing research on democratic transitions in the MENA region.