Rabab Elmahid

RABAB ELMAHDI

Rabab ElMahdi is an assistant professor of political science at the American University in Cairo.  She finished her PhD at McGill University in Montreal, where she wrote her dissertation on the impact of neo-liberal economic reconstruction on changing patterns of state-civil society relations in Egypt and Bolivia. Her field of specialization is comparative political economy and development with a focus on Latin America and the Middle East. El-Mahdi's research interests cover the areas of state-civil society relations, social movements and resistance, as well as the political economy of social policy.  Before joining AUC she worked for several developmental organizations including NGOs and UN agencies. 

Research Interests

• Comparative Political Economy of Latin American and the Middle East - State-Civil Society Relations
• Social Movements and Resistance
• Women's Movements
• Democratic Transitions

Conference Presentations

“Labor as an Agent of Democracy in Egypt and Brazil” American Political Science Association (APSA), Toronto, September 2009 

“Middle-Class Women Activism in Egypt” Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Washington D.C., November 2008.

“Power and Resistance:Between Social Movements and Covert Resistance” Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA), Chicago, April 2008.

“A Feminist Movment in Egypt: Different or Non-Existent?” Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Montreal, November 2007.

“Enough! Egypt’s Quest for Democracy”, American Political Science Association (APSA) Conference, Philadelphia, September 2006.

“What Kind of Civil Society Do Donors Want?”, European University Institute Annual Conference, Florence, March 2005.

“Social Safety Nets and Grassroots’ Mobilization in Egypt and Bolivia”, American Political Science Association (APSA) Conference, Chicago, September 2004.

“Exclusionary Development: Civil Society and Citizenship Construction”, European University Institute Annual Conference, Florence, March 2000.

Recent Publications

“Anti-Globalization Movement” in Encyclopedia of Political Science. Washington D.C.: Sage Publications, forthcoming 2010.

“Labor and Contentious Politics in Egypt.” in New Protest Movements in Egypt (in Arabic) ed. Dina Shehata Cairo: Al-Ahram Center for Strategic Studies, forthcoming.

“Enough! The Budding of Social Movements in Egypt?” Comparative Political Studies (peer-reviewed and one of the top 5 journals in comparative politics), 42:3 August 2009.

Egypt: A Moment of Change.  An edited volume of ten chapters covering the economy, politics and society of contemporary Egypt. Co-edited with P.Marfleet. London: Zed Press, 2009

“Pro-Democracy Movement in Egypt”, in Egypt: A Moment of Change.  Co-edited with P. Marfleet. London: Zed Publication, 2009.

“Egypt’s Feminist Movement: Different or Non-Existant?”, Cairo Papers for Social Sciences,. Cairo: AUC Press, June 2009:16-36.

“The Neoliberal Model: Politics of the State”, Social Papers (in Arabic) November 2008: 35-42.

“Population and Development: 21st Century Challenges”, 2002

Media Appearances

Featured speaker on: CNN  documentary “Egypt: A Test Case for Democracy” 2005. CBC news 2005, British Channel 4  documentary “ Blogging on the Nile” 2006,  BBC World Service Debate “New Media and Democracy” 2007, Al-Jazeera English “Inside Story” 2008.  Interviewed by the Washington Post, L.A. Times, Chicago Tribune, Herald Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, and all independent Egyptian newspapers.