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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

Posters



P01 - Poster Session I

Date: Jun 2 | Time: 08:45am to 10:15am | Location:

Section Head: Christopher Alcantara (Western University)
Jury I Members
Christopher Alcantara (Western University)
Helaina Gaspard (University of Ottawa)
Jury II Members
Christopher Cochrane (University of Toronto)
Kate Puddister (University of Guelph)

Democracy as Natural Law: A Hobbesian Potential: Christopher Holman (Nanyang Technological University)
Abstract: This paper reconstructs various elements of the political thought of Thomas Hobbes in order to attempt to generate a unique basis for the normative preference for democracy as a sovereign form. It begins from an appreciation of the specificity of Hobbes’s concept of natural law. The laws of nature specify that minimal content that can be said to constitute the essential internal tendencies of the natural human being, and the means to institute a political order capable of facilitating these tendencies’ expression. This institution exists for the sake of the safety of the people, whose actualization depends on the creation of a sphere of right that ensures the continued and ongoing actualization of that general human motion upon which all particular motion depends. I suggest that reconsideration of Hobbes’s sporadic recognition that the desire for political participation has an ontological ground, combined with a rejection of his critique of the mechanics of democratic deliberation, allow us to reinterpret democratic self-activity as an essential element for the realization of the safety of the people, and thereby democracy as the ethically preferred sovereign form.


S.A.S. v. France: A Woman’s Right to a Culture Unveiled/ S.A.S. c. France. Le droit de la femme à une culture dévoilé: Herbert McCullough (Midwestern State University)
Abstract: The French National Assembly nearly unanimously passed Law 2010-1129, prohibiting face concealment in the public square; thus banning full-face veils like the niqab and burqa. However, an unnamed Frenchwoman challenged this law, stating that it violated her religious freedom and her right to privacy and her right to be protected from discrimination under the European Convention on Human Rights. The French government defended this ban, arguing that it is necessary to promote the idea of people living together in a democratic society. By ‘living together,’ this paper argues that this means being in conformity of French Republican ideals, including Laïcité. Looking at this court case, one would ask the following question: can promoting a sense of conformity violate one’s human right, especially their freedom of religion and their right to a culture? Furthermore, should public cohesion in a democratic society take priority over the human rights of a religious and cultural minority living in that said society? This paper argues that this dress code regulation is counterproductive, and it would only alienate Muslim women from French society. Likewise, in the name of gender equality, the French government is violating its female Muslim minority a right to their religion and culture.


Militarization and Portrayals of the “Other” in the Israeli Education System: Dana Gold (University of Western Ontario)
Abstract: One cannot deny that the military in Israel plays a crucial role in day to day life, including the education system. This paper will argue that the influence of the military in Israel on the education system is to a large extent responsible for the creation and maintenance of negative mental representations of the “Other”, namely Palestinians, in preparing young Israelis for war. These representations facilitate loyalty to the State of Israel and enable the continuation of war whereby the “Other” remain portrayed as enemies of Israel. First, this paper will explore the topic of militarization in the social science literature. Second, this paper will employ the case of Israel to provide examples of militarization in the classroom, focusing particularly on storytelling and the commemoration of holidays. Third, this paper will discuss the institutionalization of militarization by applying a comprehensive definition of institutions as well as demonstrating the link between power and institutions. Lastly, this paper will point to the cognitive reinforcement of militarization present in the Israeli education system. Evidently, the Palestinian refusal to accept the legitimacy of the Jewish State of Israel continues to pose a significant challenge to peace, further strengthening Israelis’ negative mental representations of the “Other”. Nevertheless, the continued militarized education in Israeli schools perpetuates mental representations that value war over another alternative.


Make Law Not War: International Law and Canada’s Response to the Vietnam War: Sean Richmond (Carleton University)
Abstract: Existing international relations research on the impact of international law in the use of military force has tended to focus on US practice and recent conflicts. Further, although legal scholars interested in such political topics often assume that law’s obligatory nature helps it play a distinct role in world affairs, there is limited empirical work that qualitatively assesses this fundamental conceptual premise. To help address these gaps in the literature and advance the interdisciplinary debate, this paper examines important aspects of Canada’s response to the Vietnam War to better understand how international law influenced this response, and how key leaders understood said law. I focus on Canada’s policy and conduct regarding whether to be involved in the conflict, and in the international commissions created to address the crisis. I draw on constructivist theory, and employ a method of archive analysis and process tracing. I argue that, contrary to what realist perspectives might predict, Canada’s response suggests that international law can play four underappreciated roles when states react to armed conflict. However, contrary to what legal scholars might predict, the discourse and actions of Canadian leaders during the war offer only mixed support for the hypothesis that policy-makers understand international law as binding and distinct legal rules, and the legal status of these rules impacts their decision-making. In sum, my findings suggest that international law can play important roles in world politics and war, but it is unclear whether these effects are attributable to an obligatory quality in law.


Ethnic Plurarity and the dilemma of Nationhood - A Socio Ethical Appraisal of Nigeria -: Okpe Nicholas (Kogi State University), Elijah Ojochonu (Kogi State University)
Abstract: Abstract One of the top political issues of a pluralistic society like Nigeria is the ethnic phenomenon. The political bond of any socio-cultural identity is its ethnic identification characterized by symbols such as tradition of origin and descent, world-view, homogeneity of social organization, common language, religion and some other identical cultural practices. Therefore, it is important to evaluate these basic tenets of socio-cultural matters in social politics of a nation, because they are the very things that characterize its strength and weakness. The social configuration of Nigeria has the general qualities that are common with other pluralistic societies. Therefore for any meaningful social politics to be in place, ethnicity needs also to be given special attention towards an enhanced and viable nation building by way of national integration of different ethnic hegemonies. In most cases what has been done is on the level of policy formulation and principles that lack concrete interpretation in the national politics. Perhaps, this is why Otite (1990:18) maintains that, “the best insights in the Nigerian context have been shed by bringing ethnicity and class into some form of dialectical relationship, while emphasizing the significance of other salient variables such as religion and socio-spatial properties as well”. There may be constitutional formulations meant to prioritize ‘federal character’ as recognition of the resilient nature of ethnicity, however, the need to actually come to terms with the demands of ethnicity is still indispensable. It is only when this is achieved that the attendant side effects of ethnicity in social politics can be controlled. Key words: Ethnicity, Politics, Nationhood, Nigeria


Religion and Politics in Africa:What the Future Hold: Akoh Israel (Kogi State University), Elijah Okpanachi (Kogi State University)
Abstract: Abstract This paper is an attempt to survey and analyze the importance of religion in the African political situation and issues generated by it –issues which African leaders and its people continue to face on a daily basis. Religion remains a joker in future political trajectory of African nations. In Nigeria to be precise, major religions remain; Christianity, Islam, and African Traditional Religion. These religions have close link with the political interplay of the nation. It is observed that many African leaders, both political and religious, are seemingly using religion as a mere tool to achieve self-identity and goals. The study leads to a new understanding of what religion means in the African context and how it figures into both religious development and healthy politics. The paper, above all, seeks to engage with and respond to the broader issues that immerged from within those academic fields of study which looks into African challenges, eg., historical antecedents of African religion and politics. The paper would adopt a descriptive methodology in analyzing both religious and political situation of the African people. Key words: African Traditional Religion, Religion, Politics, Christianity, Islam and African situation


The Impact of Supreme Court Judicial Decisions and Feminist Scholarship on Sexual Assault Legislation: Shauna Hughey (University of Guelph)
Abstract: Since the #MeToo movement in 2017, there has been a cultural shift that has shed light on the prevalence of rape culture. In response, many governments have legislated to attempt to prevent sexual assault myths. This study examines Bill C-51, Canada’s 2019 law that amended the sexual assault sections of the Criminal Code of Canada. It also analyzes six major sexual assault cases at the Supreme Court, and the academic discourse surrounding them. Drawing from the committee hearings in the House of Commons over Bill C-51, it qualitatively explores whether Parliament directly considered those six major sexual assault cases at the Supreme Court of Canada from 1991 to 2011. It finds that the reasoning behind the legislation largely aligned with the majority decisions of the Court. Perhaps more surprisingly, it also finds that social media movements had a major impact on how Bill C-51 confronted common rape myths that are seen at the trial level. This study found that while there are some commendable aspects of the legislation from a feminist perspective, Bill C-51 does not accomplish its goals of destigmatizing assault and protecting victims, based on the standards established by the Court and academics. In particular, this is because the amended definition of consent creates too high of a threshold in what is considered consent. Additionally, this bill further discourages victims to report, as it places the onus on the complainant to engage with the legal system, in determining the admissibility of private records.


When Words Lose Their Meaning: Hobbes and Thucydides on the Cause of War: Jimmy Lim (McGill University)
Abstract: In this paper, I argue that Hobbes and Thucydides are best understood as theorists of emotions in world politics, not realists. Taking my cue from revisionist interpretations of Hobbes and Thucydides, I defend my thesis by proposing that, for both Hobbes and Thucydides, the breakdown of moral language is the precondition for war. The open texture of language means that words like “justice” can be used by orators to advance unjust causes or narrow interests. Hobbes and Thucydides were consequently concerned with how orators could inflame the passions of the people by twisting the meaning of words, and how the abuse of moral language could divide people and incite them to war. I flesh out my account by examining Hobbes’s appraisal of Oliver Cromwell in “Behemoth” and Thucydides’ portrait of Alcibiades in “History of the Peloponnesian War”: two controversial military leaders who played important roles in rebuilding Hobbes’s England and Thucydides’ Athens from the ashes of war (when words had completely lost their moral meanings). My account complements—and problematizes—current IR research on emotions in world politics. Although IR scholars are paying increasing attention to the role of emotions in world politics, they have unfortunately paid little attention to Hobbes and Thucydides: two canonical thinkers who offer rich insights into the relationship between rhetoric, emotion, war and order. Addressing this gap will help us reappraise mainstream and revisionist interpretations of Hobbes and Thucydides as theorists of realism, fear and anarchy.


Politics by Other Means: A Clausewitzian Analysis of Foreign Military Interventions in Syria (2011-2019): Renato Matheus Mendes Fakhoury (University of Massachusetts Lowell)
Abstract: This article aims to analyze the foreign military interventions that take place in Syria from 2011 to 2019, from the contributions of Carl von Clausewitz, considered one of the greatest scholars on the topic war. While the concentration of intrastate conflicts over the past decade has fostered the concept of “new wars” as opposed to conventional interstate conflicts, military interventions continue to be used by states as a way to address perceived problems in foreign societies. In this way, we discuss how Clausewitz's thoughts can contribute to this discussion, relating military interventions as a foreign policy mechanism and as a reflection of the domestic politics of the countries involved in the spillover of the Syrian conflict. To this end, this article departs from an analysis of Clausewitzian theory on war, followed by a reflection on Foreign Military Interventions on the 21st Century and a case study on the Syrian Civil War to, finally, evaluate these interventions as a phenomenon of political projection. Recent events in the conflict, such as the withdrawal of US troops and the deterioration of Kurdish-Turkish relations, would benefit from the approach proposed in this article, which justifies its relevance to the issue.


The Invention of Tradition and the Limits of Hybrid Peace Governance: Chieftaincy Conflicts in Ghana and the Challenge of Upscaling “Traditional” Approaches to Conflict Resolution: Eric Tanguay (Wilfrid Laurier University)
Abstract: Conventional international peacebuilding has entered a period of crisis. There exists a growing consensus that interventions which focus primarily on constructing liberal-democratic and free-market institutions offer limited prospects for sustainable peace, as they overlook historically contingent conflict dynamics, prioritize the knowledge and agency of external actors over that of affected communities, and thus do not meaningfully engage with local-level actors. Critics of this liberal peace have increasingly identified “hybrid” peace governance as a viable alternative. Hybrid peace governance structures seek to integrate formal and informal, and local and international, actors into joint platforms for conflict resolution, and are widely viewed as better able to generate legitimacy and to harness local knowledge. This paper contends that proponents of the hybrid peace governance approach have often employed a reductive and static conception of “the local” which both neglects power structures embedded in sub-national politics, and romanticizes the potential of traditional authorities to serve as productive agents of change. Based on several months of archival and interview-based research, an analysis of the history of Ghana’s northern chieftaincy conflicts—as well as the country’s recent and fraught attempts to upscale traditional approaches to conflict resolution—reveals that, rather than representing a primordial source of communal cohesion, chieftaincy is in fact a deeply contested institution which has been repeatedly and consciously manufactured by successive actors claiming monopolies on what constitutes “tradition” in Ghana. This analysis suggests that an interdisciplinary approach with an explicitly historicist epistemology may add much-needed nuance to ongoing hybridity debates.


Failed States or Failed Solutions? An Empirical Assessment of U.S. Treatment of State Failure: Michele St-Amant (University of Toronto)
Abstract: Since the end of the Cold War the damaging effects of state failure have plagued the international community. Solutions like state or "peace" building efforts and multi-national interventions are plentiful in the literature, though their success is difficult to measure. Also strikingly absent is the empirical likelihood that the West will indeed respond to state failure. Crucially, if the West does not respond predictably to state failure then the effort devoted to finding solutions may be based on a biased sample of cases, producing serious methodological flaws. This project seeks to fill this gap. Using a large-n dataset, I test the relative strength of state failure in determining where the United States will intervene (financially or militarily). I find that the degree of state failure is not a good indicator of where the US intervenes. Counterintuitively, the US tends to send extremely small contingents to the most critically failed states. Secondly, I conduct a case study of Liberia to illuminate the reasons why the US did not immediately intervene during the civil war and the subsequent state collapse. I also draw on counter-examples from Nigeria for contrast. I find that the important factors in determining intervention include pressure from the international community, the perceived threat of terrorism, and the target states’ geostrategic position. The illumination of these empirical realities may help to determine the actual success (or failure) of international responses to state failure, and can help inform efforts in the study for new solutions.


Proudhon and the Question of Women in 19th Century Anarchist Thought: Gizem Sozen (University of Victoria)
Abstract: My research is an investigation of reactionary elements within the political thought and aesthetics of the anarchist avant-garde in France in the 19th century with a particular focus on the slippery boundaries between anarchism and the radical right. I contend that sexism was a common ground for both and a passageway from the left to the right. In this paper, I am looking at the sexism of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon’s thought. In particular, I investigate Proudhon’s reaction to the depiction of women’s sexuality in the works of the anarchist painter Gustave Courbet. Proudhon thought that Courbet’s works advanced his points regarding what he perceived to be contemporary society’s degeneration and the civilizationally degenerative effects of women whose sexuality were not contained within the bounds of patriarchal marriage and family. According to him, women embodied the ‘social degeneracy’ of the times and as such needed to be ‘cured,’ ‘corrected,’ and ‘civilized’ by socialist men. Although, there were beginnings of a feminist movement at this time, Proudhon not only did not participate in this movement but openly opposed it and had significant influence on the working class movement’s position (such as that of the International Workingmen’s Association) on the question of women. It can be argued that, in regard to the question of women’s liberation, Proudhon had a pernicious influence on the anarchist left at least among his contemporaries and arguably for the subsequent development of the left.


Obama Drone Wars in Targeted States and US Grand Strategy: Francis Okpaleke (University of Waikato)
Abstract: In this paper, the role of drones in the Obama administration and its intersection with US grand strategy is critically assessed. My overarching argument is that the tactical reliance of drones for targeted killings in the Obama era, served as a double-edged strategy for facilitating the administration’s defensive neo-realist hybrid grand strategy that sought on one hand to promote US exceptionalism, engagement, multilateralism and restraint on one hand and military assertiveness on the other. Despite the political and strategic utility of drones under Obama, it is the position of this paper that the aftermath of signature drone strikes in targeted states, undermined rather than supported Obama’s grand strategy by engendering a paradox of security and restraint in targeted states. The paradox of security argument is that the over reliance on drones as the preferred counter-terrorism strategy of the US under Obama caused a civilian dilemma evident in a rising death toll of non-combatants and growth of anti-American sentiments, retaliation against drone strikes and militant recruitment in targeted states. The paradox of restraint argument is that rather than reduce US unilateralism and military commitments abroad, the use of drones as a ‘surrogate’ weapons under Obama masked the administration’s offensive unilateral proclivities and prompted drone proliferation by US resurgent rivals and non-state actors. The paper explores this based on a deductive analysis of secondary data on drone strikes in targeted states and questions what drone use achieves for the US in terms of its grand strategy in targeted states.


The New Ontology of Security and Defence Cooperation in Europe after the 2015 Migration Crisis: Kristen Csenkey (Wilfrid Laurier University)
Abstract: The 2015 migration crisis changed Europe. I argue that the concept of normative threat was one of these changes. As a result, the ontological security of the European Union was also threatened. Member States (MS), particularly from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), effectively rejected the old norms of the EU, and as a result, threatened the cohesion of the Union. Attempts to uphold the norms of the EU, have only created more disillusionment and (debatably) continue to fuel populist and nationalistic rhetoric in the region. One possible response to this threat is the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). PESCO seeks to respond this new normative threat and envisions an ontological security that appeals to CEE MS’ security concerns, with the hopes of promoting unity in the EU through cooperation and common norms. I draw on Mitzen’s (2006) discussion on routines and Crepell’s (2011) perceptions of threat to justify my argument and suggest that PESCO’s proposed armament standardization and binding commitments are a part of this new ontological security. PESCO addresses the threat created after 2015 and responds to the need for an ontological security from disenfranchised MS.


Cyber Disarmament and Peacekeeping: Canada’s Global Engagement in a Digital Age: Kristen Csenkey (Wilfrid Laurier University)
Abstract: Cyber-attacks directly affect civilians when the targets are critical infrastructure and the result is the limitation or elimination of access to essential services. These kinds of attacks occur daily around the world. Cyber-attacks severely affect civil and human rights, as well as the overall stability of the state in which they occur. The context of hybrid warfare within the Digital Age raises complex questions, one of which I will explore further in my research: what could Canada contribute to cybersecurity abroad to protect civilians from attacks? Although the threat landscape has changed, the traditional ways of addressing threats and conflict are still applicable - although requiring some creativity. I will explore a novel approach to protecting civilian populations through cyber peacekeeping and disarmament. Traditional peacekeeping needs an update - it needs to address emerging threats with innovative solutions combining peacekeeping and capacity-building within the cyber domain. To do this, I will draw on the UN Agenda for Disarmament (2018) and its Implementation Plan and apply disarmament, deterrence, and non-proliferation to cybersecurity. Canada must improve its capabilities to meet emerging threats and assume a more assertive role in the international cyber domain. Broadly, this research will stimulate discourse as Canada creates new partnerships within its governmental agencies, private sector technology companies, and the UN, to contribute to security abroad.


La montée du populisme en Europe : entre insécurité économique et insécurité ethnoculturelle: Abel Pli (École nationale d'administration publique)
Abstract: Au cours des dernières années, on assiste à une montée en puissance des mouvements populistes dans le monde. En Europe, les partis populistes dirigent ou participent aujourd’hui à plusieurs gouvernements de l’Union européenne, comme en Pologne, en Hongrie, en République tchèque, en Slovaquie, en Bulgarie et en Grèce. La victoire des partisans du Brexit au Royaume-Uni, les résultats importants du Front national en France, de l’Alternative pour l’Allemagne, le Parti de la Liberté et le Mouvement 5 étoiles en Italie, confirme la vague populiste. Le populisme prétend être le représentant du « vrai peuple », cherchant à occuper le vide laissé par les partis traditionnels, et à défendre celui-ci de l’élite corrompue qui ne représente plus les valeurs et les intérêts des électeurs. Plusieurs arguments sont avancés pour comprendre les motivations des électeurs à accorder leurs suffrages au populisme. Le but de cette communication est de comparer deux de ces arguments à travers l’étude de cas de la France et du Royaume-Uni pour ressortir les similitudes. Le premier défend l’idée selon laquelle le populisme gagne du terrain parce qu’il promet mettre fin à l’insécurité économique causée par les effets pervers de la mondialisation, à savoir les inégalités sociales, la perte d’emplois et la concurrence des produits importés. Le deuxième soutient que le vote populiste s’explique par l’insécurité ethnoculturelle liée à la peur de la migration, de la diversité raciale, du pluralisme religieux et des frontières incontrôlées.


Building Beyond the Boundary: Exploring the political problem of the nuclear weapon myth: Rebekah Pullen (McMaster University)
Abstract: Walter Benjamin’s conceptualization of Niobe demonstrates how myth allows us to acknowledge boundary markers between the accountability of the political and the chaos of the divine, to recognize sovereignty. Using this framework, I consider the destructive power of nuclear weapons as a manifestation of his ‘divine chaos’ and an example of the ultimate unaccountable ‘undoing.’ I apply this framework to the violence of nuclear weapons and how claims of accountability are tied to those of control by states and decision makers who are focused on the future-leaning threat of nuclear weapons. Seeing the power that generates nuclear destruction as divine chaos, nuclear weapons represent a belief that divine chaos can be managed and that claims of control can be manufactured – that we can move the boundary markers of history. This creates a false-accountability over the sovereignty of nuclear violence, allowing political claims to the future when manufactured nuclear accountability permeates and promotes naturalized realist ontologies within IR and the politics of nuclear (in)security. But in ignoring the boundary markers that identify the realm of divine chaos, we mythologize our own sense of nuclear control, generating paradoxical deterrence theories and building nuclear security politics beyond the political realm. This paper problematizes the structures and boundaries (put) in place, acknowledged or ignored, to examine the political problem of nuclear weapons as a future threat we are using to justify a particular(ly tragic) reading of the past, obfuscating the truth of where the boundary is between political control and what lies beyond.


'The Epoch of Might and Happiness': National Security, State Ideology and the Weaponization of Happiness in Bhutan and Turkmenistan: Lauchlan Thomas Munro (University of Ottawa)
Abstract: Political elites in Bhutan and Turkmenistan have both deployed "happiness" as a central focus of their public policy discourse. While Bhutan has succeeded in convincing the outside world that its "Gross national happiness" is a socially progressive, eco-friendly alternative to traditional development models focused on growth and consumption, Turkmenistan has maintained its reputation as an authoritarian, centralised state based on hard power. This paper asks how both countries have used "happiness" not merely as a propaganda tool, but also as a justification for a nativist interpretation of the essence of the state and, hence, as the basis for national security policies based on ethno-nationalism. The close links between official conceptions of "happiness" and national or state security are explored in each of these countries. Despite the obvious differences between these two countries, the comparison makes sense, since they are both relatively small, landlocked states heavily dependent on their neighbors and on non-tax revenue from energy-based rents (hydro-electricity for Bhutan and natural gas for Turkmenistan). The recourse to "happiness" and nativist rhetoric are thus explained as part of the soft power of regimes that perceive themselves to be under external and internal threats. But this soft power rhetoric is closely tied to the use of hard power against domestic opponents. The paper is based on detailed textual analysis of government proclamations and official publications, triangulated with specific policy measures and state actions.


Between Asian Markets and European Norms: The Internationalization of Canadian Higher Education: Conrad King (Kwantlen Polytechnic University)
Abstract: According to UNESCO, there are over five million international students enrolled in tertiary education institutions around the globe. Canada is a major player in these transnational flows, with international students now comprising twelve percent of the higher education student body. Canadian governments seek an even greater ‘market share’, yet universities and colleges must balance this with the student experience and local priorities. This has led to tensions between higher education institutions and government demands, and thus policy turbulence. Why have many Canadian universities developed internationalization policies which suggest an ethos of global engagement ethos, rather than just following the lead of provincial and federal governments (i.e., understanding this phenomenon in terms of market opportunity)? This paper argues that Canadian universities have been more responsive to myriad concerns when they develop internationalization strategies, as they must also consider the impact of internationalization policies on faculty and on the student experience (domestic and international). Applying a discursive institutionalist framework to the internationalization of higher education in Canada, this study examines how discourses affect a sectoral policy regime. At the theoretical level, it illuminates the dynamics of discourse communities and how actors and ideas emerge – or are marginalized – within policy regimes. The method of analysis involves the process-tracing of ideas within a higher education policy regime vis-à-vis document analysis and interviews with key actors. This paper is part of a multi-site project examining the relationship between policy and the international student experience in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.


Behind New Eyes: Balancing Identities and Loyalties Amongst New Canadians: Leonard Logan Churchill (Concordia University)
Abstract: Canadian federalism is founded on the balancing of “a will to live together and a will to live apart” (LaSelva 1996), as well as balancing provincial and pan-Canadian identities. Already complex, the 1982 Constitution Act made the balance between centralizing and decentralizing forces even more difficult by simultaneously promoting pan-Canadian standards and a stronger “national” identity. This paper investigates how the 1982 Constitution shaped the political loyalties of Canadians and their understanding of the federation. More specifically, it examines how three distinct groups of Canadians balance these dual loyalties. First, building on the works by Bilodeau et al. (2010, 2015), it examines how newcomers to Canada after 1982 balance provincial and federal identities. Second, it expands the investigation by examining Canadians born after the adoption of the 1982 Constitution. Finally, it examines Canadians born before 1982, using them as a benchmark for comparison with “new” Canadians. The logic of inquiry is to compare two groups introduced to Canada after the adoption of the 1982 Constitution with Canadians socialized before 1982. I expect that newcomers and younger Canadians who have not known the Canada before 1982 will exhibit a profile of political identities as well a vision of the Canadian federation different from that of Canadians socialized in Canada before 1982. The paper relies on the Provincial Diversity Project, a 2014 stratified survey of Canadians in each province, containing a sample of the general population (n=6400), an oversample of young Canadians (n=1900) and an oversample of visible minority Canadians (n=1600).


The Role of Personality in International Trade Negotiation: President Donald Trump’s Approach to the NAFTA-USMCA Renegotiation Process: Scott Fitzsimmons (University of Limerick)
Abstract: One of the most consistent aspects of President Donald Trump’s approach to foreign policy is his attempt to renegotiate or withdraw from treaties and other international agreements that impose behavioural obligations on the Government of the United States. This paper puts forward an explanation for this trend that highlights aspects of Trump’s personality that should plausibly encourage him to challenge constraints, including the constraints imposed by international trade agreements such as NAFTA. It develops and conducts a plausibility test of propositions that draw a causal link between a leader’s personality traits and their willingness to renegotiate pre-existing trade agreements. It argues that a leader’s belief in their ability to control events and distrust of others influence whether they are likely to be a “constraint challenger” or “constraint respecter” and that “constraint challengers” are more likely to attempt to renegotiate trade agreements to suit their policy preferences rather than continue to accept and adhere to their provisions.


Religion and Politics in Nigeria: Elijah Okpanachi (Kogi State University), Mercy Mabe Ocheni (Kogi State University)
Abstract: Among all the religions in Nigeria, Islam and Christianity record large numbers of adherents and the country's politics is almost based on the two religious divides. Religion and politics, appealing to the deepest human passions, have always interacted, and that interaction has often been confrontational if not violent. Religion refers to a group of people governed by similar rules and beliefs, who congregate in recognition of a higher Being. While religions are domesticated by morals that are illuminated by faith, most states are guided by politics whose orientation is generally empirical. Though it is explicit in Nigeria that the separation of religion and state is mandatory in the maintenance of a successful nation, religion plays an important role in politics nonetheless. Despite legal measures to keep religious matters inside the church/mosque the simple fact that religion plays such a significant role in the lives of most Nigerians should serve as an indication of the futility of notions that would eradicate its influence in public matters. It is crystal clear that religion played a key role in Nigeria politics. Religion serves as a basis for identity, mobilization and legitimization in the polity. To further strengthen the unity of faith and to protects the interest of members of these religions so as to continue advancing the principles on which each of the religions is based, groups and associations started springing up from Islam and Christianity in Nigeria . This paper is an exposition of the fact that




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