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representing a diverse canada in political science: power, ideas and the emergent challenge of reconciliation

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Abstract

This article examines Canadian political science and responses to diversity both in terms of who is included in the profession and their reported experiences. Utilizing extant national surveys, including from the Canadian Political Science Association, the findings show that in comparison to the 1970s, the profession today is clearly more “diverse” both in terms of its demographics, as well as what is researched and taught. This in turn relates to changing perspectives affecting policy, practice and research both in Canada and internationally. However, as will also be shown, there are evident and persistent structural inequities in the Canadian academy and the discipline of political science that have deep roots in Canada. Of particular importance in explaining these patterns is Canada’s foundation and legacy as a settler-colony, a feature thrown into sharp relief in light of current efforts at “reconciliation” between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians. It is therefore argued that the state of diversity in Canadian political science needs to be understood in relation to both evolving ideas as well as the historical formation of the Canadian state and social power.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful and constructive comments on an earlier draft of this paper. A special thank you is also extended to all colleagues involved in producing the Canadian Political Science Association Diversity Task Force surveys, and discussed here. Thanks also to Daniel Stockemer for his vision in having an international conversation about diversity and political science. I am also grateful to Catherine Clune-Taylor for her able research assistance, and lively conversations about diversity in the discipline of philosophy.

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  1. Department of Political Science, The University of Alberta, 10-16 Tory Building, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2H4, Canada

    Yasmeen Abu-Laban

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  1. Yasmeen Abu-Laban
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Correspondence to Yasmeen Abu-Laban.

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Abu-Laban, Y. representing a diverse canada in political science: power, ideas and the emergent challenge of reconciliation. Eur Polit Sci 15, 493–507 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41304-016-0072-9

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