POL 521: Challenges to Canadian State. Office Hours Leacock 529 Mondays: noon-2 pm or by appointment

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1 DRAFT: there might be minor changes to readings as outlined below POL 521: Challenges to Canadian State Kelly Gordon Office Hours Leacock 529 Mondays: noon-2 pm or by appointment Class Leacock 541 Friday 8:30-11:30 Thematic Description and Course Objectives What is the Canadian state? What is its purpose and character? What type of subjects and politics does it seek to produce? And what form(s) of the Canadian state should we work towards? This course will help students answer these and other questions through an examination of a variety of key thinkers and debates around the state and Canadian politics. The aim of this course is to give students the critical tools to examine the complexity of the state and identity-making in Canada. Required Texts All readings will be made available on mycourses or placed on reserve at the McGill library. Assignments and Grading (detailed discussion below) Attendance/Participation 20% Presentation 15% Critical reflection papers (X4) 20% Final paper 35% Assignments and Grading I - Regular Attendance and Participation (20%) This is a reading intensive course and active participation is central in ensuring students understand and retain knowledge. Students will therefore be expected to regularly and thoughtfully participate in the class identifying key themes and issues and asking and answering questions from colleagues Two marks will be deducted for each class missed, unless there is a valid, documented medical reason (medical note). Students who miss more than three classes without a valid medical reason will lose the full 20 per cent allocated to class attendance and participation. Grades will be determined by the professor based on the following criteria: à Has the student consistently attended and voluntarily participated in class discussion à Has the student enhanced the learning environment by participating respectfully in ad hoc class room discussions with her/his colleagues. à Has the student demonstrated significant preparation for the class (able to consistently answer directed questions about the readings in class). II. Presentation (15%) Each week, one or two students will open the class with a teaching presentation. Student presentations should be no more than 15 minutes (cut off at 20 minutes) and should center on one aspect of the day s readings that you develop. Your presentation should identify and highlight key

2 themes, arguments, and tensions within the readings. Do not try to be comprehensive, but rather present a coherent, focused analysis of what interests or compels you about the readings. Additionally, students should offer a few discussion questions (not more than 3) to spark discussions during the rest of the class period. Questions should be ed to the professor Thursday evening before 6 pm. III. Critical reflection papers (20%) Reflection papers should be no longer than 2 pages (single-spaced). Reflection papers are interpretive-analytical pieces of writing about the assigned readings. They may cover the entirety or only a part of the assigned text. They should not summarize the readings but rather should demonstrate your understanding of the material and your ability to analyze it. Analysis may involve identifying and critically assessing: (1) the main problems/questions an author raises; (2) the central claims and arguments; (3) explicit and implicit assumptions; (4) the evidence presented; (5) the strengths and weaknesses of an argument and/or possible counterarguments. IV. Seminar Paper (35%) The term paper should be on a question related to the course themes and readings (maximum 7,000 words, references/footnotes included). Students should meet with the professor to formulate their own paper topics prior to). The final draft of the research paper is due on Friday April 19 th before 4:30. Papers will lose 1/3 of a letter grade per day late. 2

3 Class Schedule Date Theme Readings January 11 Introduction Fathers of Confederation, Not Derived From the People Charles Taylor, Shared and Divergent Values Pierre Trudeau, Federalism, Nationalism, and Reason January 18 Conceptualizing Canadian political culture Gad Horowitz, Conservatism, liberalism, and socialism in Canada: An interpretation (1966) Seymour Martin Lipset, Continental Divide: The Value and Institutions of the United States and Canada, 1990, Chapters 1 and 3 Peter J. Smith. The Ideological Origins of Canadian Confederation (1995) Elizabeth Mancke, Early Modern Imperial Governance and the Origins of Canadian Political Culture, (1999) January 25 The colonial state Lorenzo Veracini. Introducing: Settler Colonial Studies Settler Colonial Studies 1 (2011): 1-12 Coulthard, Glen. Place Against Empire: Understanding Indigenous Anti- Colonialism (2010) Nichols, Robert. The Colonialism of Incarceration, (2014) Turpel, Mary Ellen, Patriarchy and Paternalism: The Legacy of the Canadian State for the First Nations Women (1993) February 1 February 8 Gender and the making of the Canadian state The politics of state recognition H.J. Kim-Puri, Conceptualizing Gender-Sexuality-State-Nation, An Introduction (2005) Simpson, Audra. The State Is a Man: Theresa Spence, Loretta Saunders and the Gender of Settler Sovereignty. (2016) Carter, Sarah. (2008). The Importance of Being Monogamous: Marriage and Nation Building in Western Canada to 1915 (2008), Chapter 1 Linda Trimble et al. Politicizing Bodies: Hegemonic Masculinity, Heteronormativity, and Racism in News Representations of Canadian Political Party Leadership Candidates. (2015) Charles Taylor, The Politics of Recognition (1992) Will Kymlicka, Multicultural Citizenship (1995), Chapters 1 and 2 Rita Dhamoon. Shifting from 'Culture' to 'The Cultural': Critical Theorizing of Identity/Difference Politics (2006) Himani Bannerji, Charles Taylor s Politics of Recognition: A Critique (2000) 3

4 February 15 The Quebec challenge Henri Bourassa, The French Language and the Future of Our Race (1912) Guy LaForest, Trudeau and the End of a Canadian Dream (1995), Introduction and Conclusion Gerald Bouchard, What is Interculturalism? (2010) Stephen Winter, Cultural Politics Pathology: The Charter of Quebec Values. (2014) Andrew Potter, How a snowstorm exposed Quebec s real problem: social malaise (2017) ( Chantal Hebert, It was shoddy journalism that cost Andrew Potter his job at McGill (2017) ( Peter Loewen, If Andrew Potter s McGill resignation resulted from political pressure, that would be outrageous (2017) ( March 15 Canadian nationalism George Grant, Lament for a Nation (1965) Sherene Razack, Dark Threats, White Knights (2004), Introduction and Chapters 2, 4 March 1 March 8 March 15 March 22 The Canadian state and the politics of racemaking NO class Reading break The politics of immigration and statemaking Activist politics and the state Robyn Maynard, Policing Black Lives (2017), Introduction, Chapter 2, 5 Debra Thompson, "Race, the Canadian Census, and Interactive Political Development (2018) Amadahy, Zainab and Bonita Lawrence. Indigenous Peoples and Black People in Canada: Settlers or Allies? (2010) Andrew Griffith, How to debate immigration issues in Canada Megan Gaucher, Monogamous Canadian Citizenship, Constructing Foreignness and the Limits of Harm Discourse (2016) Rebecca Wallace, Contextualizing the Crisis: The Framing of Syrian Refugees in Canadian Print Media (2018) Erin Tolley, Political Players or Partisan Pawns? Immigrants, Minorities and Conservatives in Canada (2017) Leslie Pal, Interests of State: The Politics of Language, Multiculturalism and Feminism in Canada, (1993) Introduction, Chapters 1 and 2 4

5 Janine Brodie, We are all equal now (2008) Paul Saurette and Kelly Gordon, Arguing Abortion: The New Anti- Abortion Discourse in Canada (2013) John Grundy and Miriam Smith, Activist Knowledge in Queer Politics, Economy and Society 36, 2 (2007): Lisa Vanhala, "Disability Rights Activists in the Supreme Court of Canada: Legal Mobilization Theory and Accommodating Social Movements." Canadian Journal of Political Science 42 (4): March 29 The populist challenge (I) Cass Mudde and Cristobal Rovira Kaltwasser, Populism: A very short introduction (2017) Stephen Harper, The future is populist in this age of disruption (2018) ( Preston Manning, The West Wants In Saurette, Paul, and Shane. Gunster. Ears Wide Shut: Epistemological Populism, Argutainment and Conservative Talk Radio (2011) April 5 The populist challenge (II) Michael Adams, Could It Happen Here?: Canada in the Age of Trump and Brexit (2017) 5

6 Other Key Issues to Note In a class context, we all depend on a climate of mutual respect and engagement to make this a productive and exciting intellectual environment. Please respect these basic guidelines: Deadlines and assignments submissions: Exceptions are only made for illness or other serious situations deemed as such by the professor. University regulations require all absences from exams and all late submissions due to illness be supported by a medical certificate. No assignments will be accepted via , nor should they be left anywhere else in the university. The exception to this rule is late papers, which must be handed in at the Political Science front desk (Leacock 414), in the instructor s mailbox, with a date stamp. Students are responsible for keeping safe both a paper and an electronic copy of any submitted papers. It is also students duty to retain all marked assignments returned by the instructor until the end of the term policy: No extensions will be granted via . Students should refrain from ing the instructor with questions that either: a) require extensive feedback (in which case students should meet in person with the instructor during office hours); b) are of general interest (in which case the issue should be raised at the beginning of lectures); or c) have been already answered in class (in which case students should obtain answers from fellow students who attended the missed lecture). Otherwise, legitimate inquiries will normally be answered within two weekdays. Class discussion: Please respect your fellow students by listening attentively during classroom discussions and presentations. Students talking repeatedly during lectures will be asked to leave. Racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, or other discriminatory remarks will not be tolerated. Class time: Students who come late to class or leave early disrupt both the flow of discussions and the lectures. Please respect class time. If you have to leave early due to extraneous circumstances, please inform the professor prior to class. Sexual Assault Survivor Support and Allyship: Should you or someone you know need support as a survivor of sexual assault, harassment and/or discrimination on campus, please contact McGill s Sexual Violence Response Advisor, Émilie Marcotte, at or by at: osvrse@mcgill.ca, situated in the new Office for Sexual Violence Response, Support and Education (located at 550 Sherbrooke, suite 585) for assistance. They also offer drop-in hours during the school year (the schedule is online). For more information on their office, sexual violence support and reporting options visit: The Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Student s Society (SACOMSS) offers peer counseling and support to students who have experienced sexual violence and their allies, as well as outreach and education. You can find out more about them at Their hotline number is: (514) and they offer drop-in hours as well (the schedule for which is online). Accommodations: If you require accommodations due to special circumstances, challenges or disabilities, please notify both the professor and the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) as soon as possible. The OSD provides a broad range of support and services to assist students, faculty, and staff with disabilities (3100 Brown Student Services Bldg., (voice), (TDD) ( Every effort will be made to accommodate students with special needs arising from learning challenges and disabilities. Please note the above commitment to accommodate applies equally to survivors of sexual assault and/or harassment on or off campus. Survivors are encouraged to consult the resources provided by the Students Society of McGill University ( the Sexual Assault 6

7 Centre of the McGill Students Society ( and the McGill Office for Sexual Violence Response, Support and Education ( Additional Resources Equity Advisors in the Department of Political Science In the context of ongoing efforts to promote strong and sustainable departmental responses to the issues of harassment and sexual misconduct, the Department of Political Science has appointed two professors to the position of equity advisor. The aim of this position is to work in cooperation with the chair and other members of the department to promote strengthened norms and practices in the department regarding preventing and addressing harassment and sexual misconduct. `The equity advisors are available, individually or in tandem, to meet with colleagues and students to discuss questions relating to harassment, sexual misconduct, and related equity concerns, and will refer students and colleagues to the relevant specialized services and offices at McGill. They will promote awareness and application of policies and guidelines related to these issues in the department, including the Department of Political Science Guidelines on Relationships between Instructors and Students. The role will evolve according to Departmental needs. Our current equity officers are Professor Kelly Gordon and Professor Hudson Meadwell Please feel free to reach out to either Professor Gordon or Professor Meadwell with any concerns in relation to this issue. Political Science Students Association (PSSA) The PSSA represents the students enrolled in major, minor, honours, and joint-honours undergraduate degrees in the department of political science at McGill University. They advocate for students needs and concerns with the aim of helping to promote students experience and overall wellbeing. The team offers many involvement opportunities, coordinates academic and social events and services, provides advising and student support, and enhances the relationship between students, staff, and administration as student liaisons. Liaison Librarian for Political Science Need help doing research for a paper? Our very own library liaison, Sandy Hervieux, is dedicated to helping you find the sources you need as well as providing you access to software and resources to help organize and simplify the process. sandy.hervieux@mcgill.ca, , McLennan Library Building 7