Yasmeen Abu-Laban
Biographic Data
| ID | 655690 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Yasmeen Abu-Laban |
| GIVEN NAMES | Yasmeen |
| FAMILY NAME | Abu-Laban |
| SIGNATURE | ABU-LABAN Y |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Alberta |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9880-9857 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 42 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 229 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 39 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 3 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1992 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Theorizing claims making across the citizenship spectrum: Three case studies
Still ‘standing with’ Israel: Canadian foreign policy and the legacy of Stephen Harper
When Stephen Harper became the first Canadian prime minister to speak in the Knesset, he declared unwavering loyalty to Israel. Liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau, Harper's successor, echoed this sentiment. Following the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October 2023, Israel's responses in Gaza have been deemed by the International Court of Justice to be “plausible genocide.” How far does Canada's position of standing with Israel go, and does it include …
Resisting the Dehumanization of Refugees
Antisemitism as Anti-Jewish Racism: Reflections on an Anti-Racist Analytic
Advancing a consistent anti-racist analytic to challenge antisemitism demands standing with all those who suffer from systemic racism, and specifically with Palestinians. However, antisemitism and anti-Palestinian racism are rarely understood and opposed in a unified movement of solidarity. Here, we address what antisemitism is not, especially the false claim that equates antisemitism with criticism of the state of Israel – a claim that is reachi…
Anti-Palestinian racism, antisemitism, and solidarity: Considerations towards an analytic of praxis
Escalating Israeli state violence against Palestinians in Gaza in the current moment of genocide should serve as a wake-up call for united action, yet the context is fraught. The state of Israel, a settler colonial and occupying power over Palestinians, is simultaneously presented as a safe haven for Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust, and Jews internationally. We ask how a united movement that counters both anti-Palestinian racism and antis…
Middle class nation building through a tenacious discourse on skills: Immigration and Canada
This article considers the discursive emphasis in post-1960s Canadian immigration policy on 'skills' in the context of adopting a formally race-neutral immigration policy, and embracing what has been called middle class nation building. Using policy documents and statistical information, it is argued that a clear preference for newcomers with 'skills,' has been sustained despite shifts in policy over time, because 'skills' serve as a floating sig…
The Cambridge Handbook of Race and Surveillance
Featuring chapters authored by leading scholars in the fields of criminology, critical race studies, history, and more, The Cambridge Handbook of Race and Surveillance cuts across history and geography to provide a detailed examination of how race and surveillance intersect throughout space and time. The volume reviews surveillance technology from the days of colonial conquest to the digital era, focusing on countries such as the United States, C…
We Have Lost a Giant”: Reflections on Elia Zureik
The Israel/Palestine Racial Contract and the challenge of anti-Racism: A case study of the United Nations World Conference Against Racism
Anti‐Palestinian Racism and Racial Gaslighting
Since the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, more attention is being paid to anti‐black racism and anti‐racism. The authors contend that, by extension, other forms of racism need to be considered more closely, including those that have received limited scholarly and public attention. This article isolates key elements of anti‐Palestinian racism as a specific form of racism that operates at local and global levels. As an Arab group whic…
The Israel/Palestine Racial Contract and the challenge of anti-Racism: A case study of the United Nations World Conference Against Racism
This article forwards an analysis about Israel/Palestine in relation to race in global context, through the case study of the UN World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) process (2001–2011). Although the WCAR has been widely framed as "antisemitic" we demonstrate this interpretation is unfounded, through highlighting legitimate claims for Palestinian human rights and other oppressed and racialized groups – in particular African-descended peoples se…
Israel, Palestine and the Politics of Race: Exploring Identity and Power in a Global Context
As the situation in Israel/Palestine seems to become ever more intractable and protracted, the need for new ways of looking at recent developments and their historical roots is more pressing than ever. Bearing this in mind, Yasmeen Abu-Laban and Abigail B. Bakan discuss the historic and contemporary dynamics in Israel/Palestine, and their international reverberations, from the unique vantage point of ‘race’, racialization, racism and anti-racism.…
Immigration and Settler‐Colonies Post‐UNDRIP: Research and Policy Implications
It is now common to identify a policy convergence around migration which is eroding the longstanding distinction made in the migration literature between “traditional” countries of immigration (like Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States) and other Western states. Taking the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as instructive, this article focusses on the case of Canada, arguing that its settler‐colonial fo…
Narrating Canadian Political Science: History Revisited: Presidential Address to the Canadian Political Science Association Toronto, Ontario May 30, 2017–Addendum
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Privacy
Privacy can generally be defined as the ability of individuals (or groups) to control others access to information about them. Privacy is valued, and is enshrined in the international human rights regime. However, as illustrated by debates concerning the categories of “public” and “private,” privacy is also complex, subject to variability across time and space, and subject to debated interpretation. As such, privacy is an essentially contested co…
Narrating Canadian Political Science: History Revisited
In this address, I argue that the organizational and ideational evolution of political science is closely interconnected with Canada’s history and unequal social relations since Confederation. This is because organized political science in Canada was really at heart a national venture. As a consequence, in order to understand the ideas animating early political scientists we have to consider Canada’s foundational status as a settler colony in the…
Representing a Diverse Canada in Political Science: Power, ideas and the emergent challenge of reconciliation
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 t…
Transforming Citizenship: Power, Policy and Identity
Transforming Citizenship:Power, Policy and Identity Yasmeen Abu-Laban, Special Guest Editor (bio) Canada is the essence of not being. Not English, not American, it is the mathematic of not being. And a subtle flavour—we’re more like celery as a flavour. —Mike Myers, Canadian Actor and Screenwriter If Mike Myers is correct that Canada is as ‘subtle’ as celery, it might seem an academic conference focused on the theme of Canadian citizenship would …
Rethinking Canadian Citizenship: The Politics of Social Exclusion in the Age of Security and Suppression
Gendering Surveillance Studies: The Empirical and Normative Promise of Feminist Methodology
This paper argues that “doing Surveillance Studies” in a way that builds on and extends past research requires embracing the increasing call in the field to attend to gender, and embracing insights pertaining to feminist methodology and relatedly epistemology. By reviewing the extant record and possibilities of attending to gender, the article shows how both the empirical and normative repertoires of Surveillance Studies may be emboldened and mor…
After 9/11: Canada, the Israel/Palestine Conflict, and the Surveillance of Public Discourse
Since September 11, 2001, a growing body of scholarship has traced the intensification of surveillance in countries of the industrialized West. However, less attention has been paid to analyzing the impact of surveillance of discourse, particularly public discourse normally considered a hallmark of liberal democratic freedoms of speech and association. In this article we consider the case of Canadian public discourse and illustrate how surveillan…
Surveillance and Control in Israel/Palestine: Population, Territory and Power
Preface Elia Zureik, David Lyon and Yasmeen Abu-Laban Part I: Introduction 1. Colonialism, Surveillance and Population Control: Israel/Palestine Elia Zureik Part II: Theories of Surveillance in Conflict Zones 2. Identification, Colonialism and Control: Surveillant Sorting in Israel/Palestine David Lyon 3. Making Place for the Palestinians in the Altneuland: Herzl, Anti-Semitism, and the Jewish State Glenn Bowman Part III: Civilian Surveillance 4.…
Multiple Minorities and Deceptive Dichotomies: The Theoretical and Political Implications of the Struggle for a Public French Education System in Alberta
In this article we re-establish the relevance of linguistic diversity by highlighting that French is a minority language spoken by a growing number of non-white and non-Christian minority groups, including Muslims. These groups are often characterized in contemporary Canada as essentially non-modern, traditional and opposed to secularism—characterizations that were used historically to depict French ethnic minorities as essentially Catholic, trad…
Israel/Palestine, South Africa and the ‘One-State Solution: The Case for an Apartheid Analysis
The application of the term ‘apartheid’ to the policies and practices of the Israeli state forms a flashpoint in contemporary global politics. South Africa has provided a point of comparison for many state formations, and we suggest that, overall, the apartheid analysis serves as a useful contribution regarding Israel/Palestine within the framework of comparative political science. Moreover, because of the transformation evident in South Africa s…
Gendering the Nation-State: Canadian and Comparative Perspectives
Serious study of scoial and political life must attend to gender as a category of analysis. Gendering the Nation-State explores the gendered dimensions of a fundamental organizational unit in social and political science: the nation-state. Yasmeen Abu-Laban has drawn together work by both high-profile and emerging scholars to rescue gender from the margins of theoretical discussions on the nation, the state, public policy, and citizenship. Contri…
Dangerous (Internal) Foreigners and Nation-Building: The Case of Canada
In this article we develop a theoretical framework attuned to the relationship between discourses of security, race/racialization, and foreignness. Applying this framework to three historic instances of Canadian national insecurity (Japanese-Canadian internment, the Front de libération du Québec crisis, and the Kanehsatake/Oka crisis), we argue that “foreignness” is produced and regulated in historically specific ways with consequences for how “t…
The Construction of the Geography of Immigration as a Policy Problem: The United States and Canada Compared
The release of 2000 U.S. Census and 2001 Canadian Census data sparked significant interest in immigrant dispersal outside major urban centers. This article analyze show the meaning of immigration settlement patterns is socially constructed by using a comparative textual analysis of newspaper coverage of census findings as well as government documents and think tank studies. The authors argue that in Canada, immigration settlement is interpreted a…
Ethnic Pluralism under Siege: Popular and Partisan Opposition to Multiculturalism
Yasmeen Abu-Laban, Daiva Stasiulis, Ethnic Pluralism under Siege: Popular and Partisan Opposition to Multiculturalism, Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de Politiques, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Dec., 1992), pp. 365-386
Palestinian resistance and international solidarity: The BDS campaign
Israel's recent war in Gaza ('Operation Cast Lead') has both exposed Israel's defiance of international law and provided the occasion for increasing support for an organised transnational boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. The BDS movement is aimed at challenging the Israeli state's illegal military occupation and a host of corresponding repressive policies directed at Palestinians. However, the BDS campaign, and in particular the …
Reconsidering the Constitution, Minorities and Politics in Canada
The constitution and constitutional discourse have loomed large on the agenda of Canadian political science since the 1960s. Over time, political scientists have approached the constitution and its role in society from a number of angles reflecting perceived primary axes of power and dominant cleavages within Canadian society. Thus, federalism, regionalism and British-French dualism have been prominent in explorations of constitutional politics, …
Anti‐Palestinian Racism and Racial Gaslighting
Since the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, more attention is being paid to anti‐black racism and anti‐racism. The authors contend that, by extension, other forms of racism need to be considered more closely, including those that have received limited scholarly and public attention. This article isolates key elements of anti‐Palestinian racism as a specific form of racism that operates at local and global levels. As an Arab group whic…
Narrating Canadian Political Science: History Revisited
In this address, I argue that the organizational and ideational evolution of political science is closely interconnected with Canada’s history and unequal social relations since Confederation. This is because organized political science in Canada was really at heart a national venture. As a consequence, in order to understand the ideas animating early political scientists we have to consider Canada’s foundational status as a settler colony in the…
From Deportation to Apology: The Case of Maher Arar and the Canadian State
In 2002, Maher Arar, a dual Canadian and Syrian citizen, was detained and accused by American authorities of being a member of al Qa'ida. He was deported to Jordan and, ultimately, Syria, where he was imprisoned and subjected to torture for one year. In 2007, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued an apology and 10.5 million dollars (Canadian) in compensation. Drawing on contemporary theoretical accounts of multiculturalism, security, and …
Israel/Palestine, South Africa and the ‘One-State Solution: The Case for an Apartheid Analysis
The application of the term ‘apartheid’ to the policies and practices of the Israeli state forms a flashpoint in contemporary global politics. South Africa has provided a point of comparison for many state formations, and we suggest that, overall, the apartheid analysis serves as a useful contribution regarding Israel/Palestine within the framework of comparative political science. Moreover, because of the transformation evident in South Africa s…
Liberalism, Multiculturalism and the Problem of Essentialism1
This article focuses on key themes in the liberal philosophical debate over multiculturalism, as well as the responses of Canadian social and political actors to the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington. Since September 11, there has been a renewed popularity of arguments positing a 'clash of civilizations' between Muslim and Christian societies, and a new legitimacy advanced for 'ethnic profiling' in the name of security. The ra…
Middle class nation building through a tenacious discourse on skills: Immigration and Canada
This article considers the discursive emphasis in post-1960s Canadian immigration policy on 'skills' in the context of adopting a formally race-neutral immigration policy, and embracing what has been called middle class nation building. Using policy documents and statistical information, it is argued that a clear preference for newcomers with 'skills,' has been sustained despite shifts in policy over time, because 'skills' serve as a floating sig…
After 9/11: Canada, the Israel/Palestine Conflict, and the Surveillance of Public Discourse
Since September 11, 2001, a growing body of scholarship has traced the intensification of surveillance in countries of the industrialized West. However, less attention has been paid to analyzing the impact of surveillance of discourse, particularly public discourse normally considered a hallmark of liberal democratic freedoms of speech and association. In this article we consider the case of Canadian public discourse and illustrate how surveillan…
Immigration and Settler‐Colonies Post‐UNDRIP: Research and Policy Implications
It is now common to identify a policy convergence around migration which is eroding the longstanding distinction made in the migration literature between “traditional” countries of immigration (like Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States) and other Western states. Taking the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as instructive, this article focusses on the case of Canada, arguing that its settler‐colonial fo…
Gendering Surveillance Studies: The Empirical and Normative Promise of Feminist Methodology
This paper argues that “doing Surveillance Studies” in a way that builds on and extends past research requires embracing the increasing call in the field to attend to gender, and embracing insights pertaining to feminist methodology and relatedly epistemology. By reviewing the extant record and possibilities of attending to gender, the article shows how both the empirical and normative repertoires of Surveillance Studies may be emboldened and mor…
Multiple Minorities and Deceptive Dichotomies: The Theoretical and Political Implications of the Struggle for a Public French Education System in Alberta
In this article we re-establish the relevance of linguistic diversity by highlighting that French is a minority language spoken by a growing number of non-white and non-Christian minority groups, including Muslims. These groups are often characterized in contemporary Canada as essentially non-modern, traditional and opposed to secularism—characterizations that were used historically to depict French ethnic minorities as essentially Catholic, trad…
The racial contract: Israel/Palestine and Canada
In this paper we adapt political philosopher Charles Mills’ notion of the racial contract to consider the fraught context of Israel/Palestine and its interface with other states, particularly Canada. Specifically, we argue the racialization of categories commonly considered to be race-neutral – including: religion; nationality; citizenship; democracy; security; historic claims to or denial of claims to land; and interpretation, implementation or …
Representing a Diverse Canada in Political Science: Power, ideas and the emergent challenge of reconciliation
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 t…
The Israel/Palestine Racial Contract and the challenge of anti-Racism: A case study of the United Nations World Conference Against Racism
This article forwards an analysis about Israel/Palestine in relation to race in global context, through the case study of the UN World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) process (2001–2011). Although the WCAR has been widely framed as "antisemitic" we demonstrate this interpretation is unfounded, through highlighting legitimate claims for Palestinian human rights and other oppressed and racialized groups – in particular African-descended peoples se…
"Constructing "Ethnic Canadians: The Implications for Public Policy and Inclusive Citizenship: Rejoinder to Rhoda Howard-Hassmann
International migration is an important facet of globalization that has brought unprecedented levels of ethnocultural and racial diversity to Canadian society. The presence of an increasingly heterogeneous population raises questions about how diversity can be reconciled with Canadian nationbuilding goals — especially the ability to construct and reproduce a national political community of rights-bearing citizens. One answer is given by Rhoda How…
Transforming Citizenship: Power, Policy and Identity
Transforming Citizenship:Power, Policy and Identity Yasmeen Abu-Laban, Special Guest Editor (bio) Canada is the essence of not being. Not English, not American, it is the mathematic of not being. And a subtle flavour—we’re more like celery as a flavour. —Mike Myers, Canadian Actor and Screenwriter If Mike Myers is correct that Canada is as ‘subtle’ as celery, it might seem an academic conference focused on the theme of Canadian citizenship would …
The Challenge of Care: Early Childhood Education and Care in Canada and Quebec
In “The Challenge of Care: Early Childhood Education and Care in Canada and Quebec,” Laurie Adkin and Yasmeen Abu-Laban address the debate in Canada regarding the relative merits of existing child care programs and policies in which those in Quebec are typically taken as the most desirable. Drawing on and extending Nancy Fraser’s universal caregiver model, they develop a critique that brings out the neoliberal, Third Way, and social conservative …
Crossing Borders: Interdisciplinarity, Immigration and the Melting Pot in the American Cultural Imaginary
IntroductionAlong with the Statue of Liberty, the metaphor of the melting pot has hada profound resonance with respect to images of the United States in bothnational and international contexts throughout the twentieth century. Al-luding to the history of the United States as a settler-colony, the melting potmetaphor (like the Statue of Liberty) refers to processes of immigration,relations of ethnic diversity, and notions of national identity and …
Anti-Palestinian racism, antisemitism, and solidarity: Considerations towards an analytic of praxis
Escalating Israeli state violence against Palestinians in Gaza in the current moment of genocide should serve as a wake-up call for united action, yet the context is fraught. The state of Israel, a settler colonial and occupying power over Palestinians, is simultaneously presented as a safe haven for Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust, and Jews internationally. We ask how a united movement that counters both anti-Palestinian racism and antis…
Ethnic Pluralism under Siege: Popular and Partisan Opposition to Multiculturalism
Yasmeen Abu-Laban, Daiva Stasiulis, Ethnic Pluralism under Siege: Popular and Partisan Opposition to Multiculturalism, Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de Politiques, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Dec., 1992), pp. 365-386
Borders, Nations and States: Frontiers of Sovereignty in the New Europe
Frontiers of sovereignty in the new Europe, Liam O'Dowd and Thomas M. Wilson punctured sovereignty, border regions and the environment within the European Union, Susan Baker transfrontier co-operation at the external borders of the EU - implications for sovereignty, Giovanni Delli Zotti ethnic-regionalism versus the state - the case of Italy's Northern Leagues, Rainmondo Strassoldo astride two states - cross-border co-operation in the Basque Coun…
Crossing Borders: Interdisciplinarity, Immigration and the Melting Pot in the American Cultural Imaginary
IntroductionAlong with the Statue of Liberty, the metaphor of the melting pot has hada profound resonance with respect to images of the United States in bothnational and international contexts throughout the twentieth century. Al-luding to the history of the United States as a settler-colony, the melting potmetaphor (like the Statue of Liberty) refers to processes of immigration,relations of ethnic diversity, and notions of national identity and …
Turnstile Immigration: Multiculturalism, Social Order and Social Justice in Canada
"Constructing "Ethnic Canadians: The Implications for Public Policy and Inclusive Citizenship: Rejoinder to Rhoda Howard-Hassmann
International migration is an important facet of globalization that has brought unprecedented levels of ethnocultural and racial diversity to Canadian society. The presence of an increasingly heterogeneous population raises questions about how diversity can be reconciled with Canadian nationbuilding goals — especially the ability to construct and reproduce a national political community of rights-bearing citizens. One answer is given by Rhoda How…
Reconsidering the Constitution, Minorities and Politics in Canada
The constitution and constitutional discourse have loomed large on the agenda of Canadian political science since the 1960s. Over time, political scientists have approached the constitution and its role in society from a number of angles reflecting perceived primary axes of power and dominant cleavages within Canadian society. Thus, federalism, regionalism and British-French dualism have been prominent in explorations of constitutional politics, …
Liberalism, Multiculturalism and the Problem of Essentialism1
This article focuses on key themes in the liberal philosophical debate over multiculturalism, as well as the responses of Canadian social and political actors to the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington. Since September 11, there has been a renewed popularity of arguments positing a 'clash of civilizations' between Muslim and Christian societies, and a new legitimacy advanced for 'ethnic profiling' in the name of security. The ra…
The Construction of the Geography of Immigration as a Policy Problem: The United States and Canada Compared
The release of 2000 U.S. Census and 2001 Canadian Census data sparked significant interest in immigrant dispersal outside major urban centers. This article analyze show the meaning of immigration settlement patterns is socially constructed by using a comparative textual analysis of newspaper coverage of census findings as well as government documents and think tank studies. The authors argue that in Canada, immigration settlement is interpreted a…
Discourses of Denial: Mediations of Race, Gender, and Violence
Discourses of Denial: Mediations of Race, Gender, and Violence, Yasmin Jiwani, Vancouver: UBC Press, 2006, pp. viii, 255.At first glance many political scientists may not see Discourse of Denial as an intervention that speaks to their discipline. After all, Jiwani's examination of racism, sexism and violence in Canada is explicitly directed to those who traverse multiple and interdisciplinary boundaries, racialized young women and immigrant women…
From Deportation to Apology: The Case of Maher Arar and the Canadian State
In 2002, Maher Arar, a dual Canadian and Syrian citizen, was detained and accused by American authorities of being a member of al Qa'ida. He was deported to Jordan and, ultimately, Syria, where he was imprisoned and subjected to torture for one year. In 2007, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued an apology and 10.5 million dollars (Canadian) in compensation. Drawing on contemporary theoretical accounts of multiculturalism, security, and …
Gendering the nation-state: Canadian and comparative perspectives
"Gendering the Nation-State explores the gendered dimensions of a central organizing unit in social and political science - the nation-state. Contributors bringing the insights of feminist analysis to bear on three relationships central to popular and policy discussions in contemporary Canada and beyond: gender and nation, gender and state processes, and gender and citizenship. It will appeal to scholars and students in political science, gender …
The Challenge of Care: Early Childhood Education and Care in Canada and Quebec
In “The Challenge of Care: Early Childhood Education and Care in Canada and Quebec,” Laurie Adkin and Yasmeen Abu-Laban address the debate in Canada regarding the relative merits of existing child care programs and policies in which those in Quebec are typically taken as the most desirable. Drawing on and extending Nancy Fraser’s universal caregiver model, they develop a critique that brings out the neoliberal, Third Way, and social conservative …
In Search of Canadian Political Culture (review)
Reviewed by: In Search of Canadian Political Culture Yasmeen Abu-Laban Nelson Wiseman . In Search of Canadian Political Culture. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2007. 346 pp. $85.00 hc. $32.95 sc. The idea of "political culture," developed first by American political scientist Gabriel Almond in the 1950s during the ascendance of the behavioural revolution, is given new life in Nelson Wiseman's Canadian-focussed account. By eschew…
Becoming a Citizen: Incorporating Immigrants and Refugees in the United States and Canada By Irene BLOEMRAAD
The racial contract: Israel/Palestine and Canada
In this paper we adapt political philosopher Charles Mills’ notion of the racial contract to consider the fraught context of Israel/Palestine and its interface with other states, particularly Canada. Specifically, we argue the racialization of categories commonly considered to be race-neutral – including: religion; nationality; citizenship; democracy; security; historic claims to or denial of claims to land; and interpretation, implementation or …
Gendering the Nation-State: Canadian and Comparative Perspectives
Serious study of scoial and political life must attend to gender as a category of analysis. Gendering the Nation-State explores the gendered dimensions of a fundamental organizational unit in social and political science: the nation-state. Yasmeen Abu-Laban has drawn together work by both high-profile and emerging scholars to rescue gender from the margins of theoretical discussions on the nation, the state, public policy, and citizenship. Contri…
Dangerous (Internal) Foreigners and Nation-Building: The Case of Canada
In this article we develop a theoretical framework attuned to the relationship between discourses of security, race/racialization, and foreignness. Applying this framework to three historic instances of Canadian national insecurity (Japanese-Canadian internment, the Front de libération du Québec crisis, and the Kanehsatake/Oka crisis), we argue that “foreignness” is produced and regulated in historically specific ways with consequences for how “t…
Palestinian resistance and international solidarity: The BDS campaign
Israel's recent war in Gaza ('Operation Cast Lead') has both exposed Israel's defiance of international law and provided the occasion for increasing support for an organised transnational boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. The BDS movement is aimed at challenging the Israeli state's illegal military occupation and a host of corresponding repressive policies directed at Palestinians. However, the BDS campaign, and in particular the …
Surveillance and Control in Israel/Palestine: Population, Territory and Power
Preface Elia Zureik, David Lyon and Yasmeen Abu-Laban Part I: Introduction 1. Colonialism, Surveillance and Population Control: Israel/Palestine Elia Zureik Part II: Theories of Surveillance in Conflict Zones 2. Identification, Colonialism and Control: Surveillant Sorting in Israel/Palestine David Lyon 3. Making Place for the Palestinians in the Altneuland: Herzl, Anti-Semitism, and the Jewish State Glenn Bowman Part III: Civilian Surveillance 4.…
Multiple Minorities and Deceptive Dichotomies: The Theoretical and Political Implications of the Struggle for a Public French Education System in Alberta
In this article we re-establish the relevance of linguistic diversity by highlighting that French is a minority language spoken by a growing number of non-white and non-Christian minority groups, including Muslims. These groups are often characterized in contemporary Canada as essentially non-modern, traditional and opposed to secularism—characterizations that were used historically to depict French ethnic minorities as essentially Catholic, trad…
Israel/Palestine, South Africa and the ‘One-State Solution: The Case for an Apartheid Analysis
The application of the term ‘apartheid’ to the policies and practices of the Israeli state forms a flashpoint in contemporary global politics. South Africa has provided a point of comparison for many state formations, and we suggest that, overall, the apartheid analysis serves as a useful contribution regarding Israel/Palestine within the framework of comparative political science. Moreover, because of the transformation evident in South Africa s…
After 9/11: Canada, the Israel/Palestine Conflict, and the Surveillance of Public Discourse
Since September 11, 2001, a growing body of scholarship has traced the intensification of surveillance in countries of the industrialized West. However, less attention has been paid to analyzing the impact of surveillance of discourse, particularly public discourse normally considered a hallmark of liberal democratic freedoms of speech and association. In this article we consider the case of Canadian public discourse and illustrate how surveillan…
Rethinking Canadian Citizenship: The Politics of Social Exclusion in the Age of Security and Suppression
Gendering Surveillance Studies: The Empirical and Normative Promise of Feminist Methodology
This paper argues that “doing Surveillance Studies” in a way that builds on and extends past research requires embracing the increasing call in the field to attend to gender, and embracing insights pertaining to feminist methodology and relatedly epistemology. By reviewing the extant record and possibilities of attending to gender, the article shows how both the empirical and normative repertoires of Surveillance Studies may be emboldened and mor…
Transforming Citizenship: Power, Policy and Identity
Transforming Citizenship:Power, Policy and Identity Yasmeen Abu-Laban, Special Guest Editor (bio) Canada is the essence of not being. Not English, not American, it is the mathematic of not being. And a subtle flavour—we’re more like celery as a flavour. —Mike Myers, Canadian Actor and Screenwriter If Mike Myers is correct that Canada is as ‘subtle’ as celery, it might seem an academic conference focused on the theme of Canadian citizenship would …
Political science (38 works) · Law (35 works) · Sociology (35 works) · Politics (28 works) · Law (27 works) · Gender Studies (19 works) · History (14 works) · Gender Studies (13 works) · Immigration (11 works) · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies (11 works)