To view prices and purchase online, please login or create an account now.



Contesting Authoritarianism: Labor Challenges to the State in Egypt

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Contesting Authoritarianism: Labor Challenges to the State in Egypt
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Dina Bishara
SeriesCambridge Middle East Studies
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:204
Dimensions(mm): Height 228,Width 151
ISBN/Barcode 9781316644720
ClassificationsDewey:331.880962
Audience
Tertiary Education (US: College)
Professional & Vocational
Illustrations Worked examples or Exercises; 1 Tables, black and white; 2 Maps; 1 Line drawings, black and white

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 30 August 2018
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

Successive authoritarian regimes have maintained tight control over organized labor in Egypt since the 1950s. And yet in 2009, a group of civil servants decided to exit the state-controlled Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF), thereby setting a precedent for other groups and threatening the ETUF's monopoly. Dina Bishara examines this relationship between labour organizations and the state to shed light on how political change occurs within an authoritarian government, and to show how ordinary Egyptians perceive the government's rule. In particular, Bishara highlights the agency of dissident unionists in challenging the state even when trade union leaders remain loyal. She reveals that militant sectors are more vulnerable to greater scrutiny and repression and that financial benefits tied to membership in state-backed unions can provide significant disincentives against the exit option. Moving beyond conventional accounts of top-down control, this book explores when and how institutions designed for political control become contested from below.

Author Biography

Dina Bishara is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Alabama. She has published in outlets such as Perspectives on Politics and Middle East Law and Governance and has received a number of fellowships, including postdoctoral fellowships from Harvard University, the University of Oxford, and the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.