Heba F. El-Shazli

Heba F. El-Shazli

Heba F. El-Shazli

Associate Professor

Democratization, Authoritarian Regimes and Transitions, Civil Society and Global Social Movements, Arabic Language and Culture, Islam and Politics, and the Labor Movement in the Middle East

Heba El-Shazli is Assistant Professor at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on International Relations Theory, Politics, Government and Society of the Middle East, and Political Islam. She holds a Ph.D. in Government and International Affairs, from Virginia Tech, and a Master of Arts degree in International Relations from Georgetown University. She is an Adjunct Faculty at Georgetown University’s Master’s Degree Program at the Center for Democracy and Civil Society, and has held previous teaching positions at the Virginia Military Institute and Virginia Tech. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

El-Shazli has 28 years of experience in civic and union organizing, institution building, leadership skills training, labor education and training methodologies, political advocacy, and development, implementation and management of international programs. Her work with trade unions, political institutions, political parties and NGOs has taken her to Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucuses, Iran, South America, Western Europe, the United States, and to the Middle East and North Africa. She was the Regional Program Director for the Middle East and North Africa programs at the Solidarity Center, AFL-CIO from September 2004 until June 2011. El-Shazli was the Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs from 2001 until 2004. During her tenure at NDI, she served as NDI’s Resident Representative in Beirut, where she implemented programs to help develop and empower civil society organizations in Lebanon and in the region. She has also worked at the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (The Solidarity Center), the international institute of the American labor movement, the AFL-CIO from 1994 to 2000, where she managed programs in eight Arab countries. She previously served as the Free Trade Union Institute’s Senior Program Officer for Central and Eastern Europe from 1987 to 1994, during which time she developed and implemented educational, training and financial assistance programs for trade unions in the region. During her tenure with FTUI, El-Shazli responded to regional needs with programs addressing worker rights, gender empowerment, communications, training of trainers (TOT), vocational and leadership skills training.

Selected Publications

“The Role of the Labor Sector,” in Godson, Roy (editor). Towards Democratic Transitions: The Case of North Africa. National Strategy Information Center (NSIC); First edition (November 17, 2013).

“The Egyptian Peasant—The Hero of the  Past, the Hope for the Future” – a review of Timothy Mitchell’s Rules of Experts—Egypt, Techno-­Politics, Modernity. SPECTRA: The ASPECT Journal, Volume 2, Number 1, November 2012.

Senior Editor and Project Manager, The Struggle for Worker Rights in Egypt, The Solidarity Center, February 2010.

Courses Taught

GOVT 540:  International Relations
GOVT 444:  Israeli-­Palestinian Politics
GOVT 322:  International Relations Theory
GOVT 345:  Islam and Politics
GOVT 332:  Politics of the Middle East
GOVT 731:  Politics and Society of the Middle East
GOVT 733:  Islam and Politics

Recent Presentations

Panelist: “The Politics of  Translation: Everyday Life in Iraq and the Middle East," Panel Discussion hosted by Al-­Mutanabbi Street Starts Here 2016 Festival, George Mason University, February 2016

"Tunisia’s Political, Social and Economic Promise and Potential – Tunisian Civil Society," Tunisia Roundtable sponsored by the Languages and Global Studies Departments, George Mason University, April 2014

"Workers’ Revolt at the Workplace and in Public Spaces: How Workers Used Their Workplaces and Public Spaces to Protest Authoritarian Rule, Economic Re-­structuring, and Globalization," International Studies Association (ISA) Annual Convention, Toronto, Canada, February 2014

"Fostering Positive Political Change in North Africa -­ The Role of the Labor Sector," Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA), Washington, D.C., November 2013

"Workers in Crisis...Outlook on Egypt’s Independent Trade Unions and their Political Role," The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Washington, DC., August 2013

In the Media

“Where Were the Egyptian Workers in the June 2013 People’s Coup Revolution?”  
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/13125/

“Should Egyptians Believe Morsi?” http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/12479/