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    Canadian Political Science Association
    2020 Annual Conference Programme

    Confronting Political Divides
    Hosted at Western University
    Tuesday, June 2 to Thursday, June 4, 2020
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    Presidential Address:
    Barbara Arneil, CPSA President

    Origins:
    Colonies and Statistics

    Location:
    Tuesday, June 2, 2020 | 05:00pm to 06:00pm
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    KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
    Ayelet Shachar
    The Shifting Border:
    Legal Cartographies of Migration
    and Mobility

    Location:
    June 04, 2020 | 01:30 to 03:00 pm
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    Keynote Speaker: Marc Hetherington
    Why Modern Elections
    Feel Like a Matter of
    Life and Death

    Location:
    Wednesday, June 3, 2020 | 03:45pm to 05:15pm
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    Plenary Panel
    Indigenous Politics and
    the Problem of Canadian
    Political Science

    Location: Arts & Humanities Building - AHB 1R40
    Tuesday, June 2, 2020 | 10:30am to 12:00pm

Political Economy



G21 - Political Economy and Global Health

Date: Jun 4 | Time: 03:15pm to 04:45pm | Location:

Global Health Security and New Conceptions of Threats in International Relations: Obasesam Okoi (University of Manitoba)
Abstract: The World Health Organization constitution states that “the health of all peoples is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security.” Building a secure world, therefore, is dependent upon the fullest cooperation of individuals and states to improve access to health care and build systems for minimizing the danger of natural and man-made threats. While the interlinkages between health and security suggests that threats are not necessarily man-made but also natural, new concerns have arisen regarding the nature of international relations. This paper contends that the concepts through which we define, and approach global health security are not analytically neutral, but fundamentally political, shaped by shifting configurations of power that determine the changing preferences of actors. Arguably, concepts such as “global health” and “health security” as they intersect with international relations are neither natural nor neutral but emerged from specific ideas, at specific times, with specific connotations, for specific purposes, and for specific populations. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to explore the socio-relational cosmologies that develop through the interaction between health security and international relations. In achieving this goal, attention will be drawn to the taken-for-granted concepts that are fundamental in bridging the disciplinary divides between health studies and security studies in connection with international relations. Using a content analysis of published texts, I draw on Neo-Gramscian theory to show that taking such concepts as “global health security” for granted not only leads to a distorted analysis of global security but also a misguided analysis of international relations.


Civil Society Engagement with WHO: Too Much Influence, or Not Enough?: Tracey Wagner-Rizvi (University of Waterloo)
Abstract: Despite adopting the Framework of engagement with non-State actors (FENSA) in May 2106, the World Health Organization (WHO) continues to struggle with how best to work with non-State actors (NSAs). The WHO Executive Board in May 2019 considered how to improve the involvement of NSAs at meetings of the agency’s governing bodies. At the same time, several Member States objected to civil society’s “interference” at that year’s World Health Assembly after those countries were singled out by a campaign around a proposed resolution on drug price transparency. Civil society actors, meanwhile, expressed concern about what they considered the shrinking space for meaningful engagement between them and WHO. These developments draw attention to the need for closer examination of the role of civil society in global health governance and when engaging with WHO, including with respect to FENSA. This paper examines the legitimacy, transparency and accountability of civil society actors engaging with WHO and participating in global health governance, as well as the risk of potential conflicts of interest and undue influence—fundamental questions with which WHO continues to grapple, nearly four years after adopting FENSA.


How Strong States Follow (or Not) International Health Guidelines: The Implementation of Drinking-Water Quality Standards in Chile, 1960s-2014: Florence Larocque (Université du Québec à Montréal / Universidad de Chile)
Abstract: This paper argues that although strong state capacity favors implementation, it is not sufficient for the latter to be extensive. Only when external pressures (favoring implementation) are strong does a country with strong state capacity implement extensively a policy adopted following diffusion. Otherwise, implementation is only partial, even though its limitations may not be publicly apparent (implementation may be window-dressing). The main contributions of this paper is to show that, when state capacity is strong and there are not strong pressures from outside the implementing actors, implementation is partial. This drastically contrasts with the common view that partial implementation comes from a lack of resources. Besides, this partial implementation may not be publicly apparent and rather hidden; the resources of the state allow a window-dressing implementation, suggesting diffused policies are extensively implemented even if they are only partially. The empirical analysis focuses on the implementation of a diffused policy for which adoption and implementation are clearly separated: drinking-water quality standards derived from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guidelines. The evidence was collected in a country with strong state capacity (Chile), and covers more than four decades. The analysis entails a process-tracing approach (as intended by Seawright’s causal pathways) and builds on extensive and systematic research in governmental and non-governmental archives, as well as on interviews with actors involved in the sector in the last four decades.




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