Rafaela Dancygier

Rafaela Dancygier holds the IBM Chair of International Studies at Princeton University, where she is Professor of Politics(Link is external) and Public and International Affairs(Link is external) (Link opens in new window). Dancygier is Director of the Mamdouha S. Bobst Center for Peace and Justice(Link is external) (Link opens in new window) and Director of the Initiatives on Contemporary European Affairs (ICEA)(Link is external) (Link opens in new window). Her research examines how social and economic divides structure political conflict in Europe and the United States. Dancygier covers topics such as immigration, radical right populism, political extremism, gender equality, and housing crises and gentrification.

Her first book Immigration and Conflict in Europe(Link is external) (Link opens in new window) explains when and why immigration destinations witness conflict between immigrants and natives, between immigrants and the state, or no conflict at all. Her second book, Dilemmas of Inclusion: Muslims in European Politics(Link is external) (Link opens in new window) examines how minority groups are incorporated into politics and studies the consequences of this inclusion for the nature of party politics, electoral realignments and gender equality. Her articles have appeared in outlets such as the American Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, Journal of Politics, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, World Politics, and elsewhere.

Immigration and Conflict was awarded the Best Book Award by the European Politics and Society Section of the American Political Science Association (APSA), and it was also named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title. Dilemmas of Inclusion won the 2018 Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research and the 2019 Luebbert Prize, awarded by APSA to the best book published in comparative politics in the previous two years. Her articles have been awarded Best Paper Prizes by APSA’s Sections on Comparative Politics; Migration and Citizenship; European Politics and Society; and Representation and Electoral Systems.

In 2023 Dancygier was elected to be a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.