Labor Against the Regime

Nadine Abdalla is assistant professor of sociology at the American University in Cairo.

This work constitutes a major contribution to our understanding of labor and labor protests in the run up to the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. It is also likely to be the single best English-language account of the two critical contentious labor episodes that precede the revolution." - Ian M. Hartshorn, author of Labor Politics in North Africa: After the Uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia "Abdalla has written a fascinating and sophisticated analysis of two Egyptian labor movements during the years before the uprising of 2011. She persuasively emphasizes the crucial role of labor leaders' strategic choices and of the strategic interactions between these leaders and the Mubarak regime." - Jeff Goodwin, New York University "Although recent theories of revolutionary moments have concentrated on their political dimension, Nadine Abdalla brilliantly rebalances attention through a smashing pair of case studies of trade unions, which have unique capacities in their social networks and economic centrality. Perhaps the best application yet of the strategic-interactionist theoretical paradigm, highlighting leaders' strategic decisions." - James M. Jasper, author of The Art of Moral Protest "Abdalla pushes the boundaries of social movement theory to develop a compelling argument about the centrality of leadership in building and sustaining an effective labor movement in Egypt during the final years of the Mubarak era. Her work is an important contribution. It deserves to be widely read." - Steven Heydemann, author of Networks of Privilege in the Middle East