Shapiro's early work in political science covered the conventional areas of the discipline, including political psychology, decision theory and electoral politics. Around 1980, however, under the influence of philosophers such as Michel Foucault (who became a personal acquaintance [reference]), Shapiro began employing concepts from continental philosophy and cultural studies including governmentality, micropolitics, the movement-image, the time-image, and rhythmanalysis, while introducing uncoventional devices such as first-person narrative into his essays. Shapiro's postdisciplinary political thought is the subject of a forthcoming volume from the Routledge book series "Innovators in Political Theory", which will feature a retrospective of his most important essays in a single volume.

Shapiro is the editor of a book series in political theory (with the University of Edinburgh Press) entitled Taking on the Political; previously, he was editor the journal Theory and Event from 2004-2009, a book series in international studies and comparative politics (with the University of Minnesota Press) entitled Borderlines. Shapiro received his Ph.D in Political Science from Northwestern University in 1966, before moving on to a position as professor and chair of the University of Hawaiii at M?noa's Political Science Department.

Shapiro has also taught at the University of California, Berkeley (1968-1970), the University of Massachusetts (1979 and 1986), the University of Bergen in Norway (1972-1973), the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU (2002), and the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland.With his colleagues at the University of Hawaii at M?noa Political Science department, Shapiro founded what is sometimes called the "Aloha School."