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2023 Political Studies Graduate Students Association (PSGSA) Graduate Conference | June 26, 2023

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS | Deadline: Monday, May 15, 2023 

Emerging Technologies in the Age of Digital Censorship, Surveillance, and Repression

The proliferation of new and emerging technologies by state and non-state actors has significantly changed global and domestic politics in the 21st century. From the Arab Spring to the more recent Hashtag protests mediated from the digital spaces, mass mobilization for non-violent actions is aimed at holding leaders accountable, demanding social changes, making claims for reforms and overhauling existing societal structures, systems, and institutions.

The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the need to better harness the powers of emerging technologies to address global and local challenges. On one hand, the proliferation of emerging technologies offers high hopes for enhancing democratisation and promoting human rights through non-violent collective actions and the international exposure of political repression. On the other hand, as with several examples across the world, digital technologies can also be a tool for liberal and authoritarian governments to punish critical voices and dissenters by converting such technologies into tools of state censorship, disinformation, surveillance, and repression. Thus, while digital technologies have the potential to positively improve governance structures and human rights, repressive and weak governments have used technologies against their citizens, to prevent or more easily disperse political rallies and protests by extensively monitoring the digital communications of social movements.

Digital technologies are also changing how we approach, plan, and integrate security operations. For example, they are vital in the sphere of Command, Control, Communication, Computers, Intelligence, Information, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance systems (C4I2R). The situational understanding provided by these emerging technologies underpins security operations, from providing situational awareness to gathering intelligence and making informed decisions. Utilizing these emerging technologies has the potential to enhance global development.

We are inviting sub91��Ƶs from graduate students on topics that interrogate the use of emerging technologies by different political actors. The conference will be in a hybrid format. Participants can either join in-person at Queen’s University or online via Zoom.

The keynote speaker will be Dr. Seva Gunitsky (Associate Professor, University of Toronto).

Some Proposed Sub-topics:

● Theoretical Explorations of Emerging Technologies and Digital Authoritarianism

● Surveillance and Repression in a Digital Age

● 91��Ƶ, Human Rights and Repression

● Digital Censorship, Repression, and Democracy

● Online Activism in the Age of Surveillance

● Digital 91��Ƶ and National Security

Please submit an abstract of no more than 250 words to: . Proposals that do not necessarily fit within the proposed sub-topics will also be considered.

The Department of Political Studies Graduate Students' Association are pleased to host:

Jonathan Pedneault - Deputy Leader, Green Party of Canada

"Meeting Global Challenges: Canada’s Responsibilities in a Chaotic World" 

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Thursday, March 30, 2023 

2:30-4:30 PM

Robert Sutherland Hall | Room 202

Light refreshments served

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Jonathan Pedneault's Biography:

At age 17, Jonathan Pedneault smuggled himself into Darfur in the back of a pick-up truck filled with rebels to document this deadly rights and environmental crisis for a CBC/Radio-Canada documentary. By then, he had spent two years giving conferences to fellow students about genocide and Canada’s responsibility to prevent mass atrocities. That was his first foray into foreign reporting.

The single son of a single mom, Jonathan was raised in poorer suburbs of Montreal. An early understanding of how privileged he was to be born Canadian impacted everything he later set about to do. For Jonathan, privilege comes with immense responsibilities. And he is one to take responsibility seriously. 

Over the next fifteen years, Jonathan worked to report on crises throughout the world and advocate for greater accountability and global social justice.

Through his work, Jonathan interviewed fishermen in Somalia who had turned to piracy to fight off illegal fishing, documented sexual abuses by UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic, witnessed failed revolutions in Egypt and Libya and documented excessive force by police in places as diverse as Chile, Belarus and the United States. 

With two years spent living on Svalbard, in the high arctic, and years reporting from places affected by extreme weather events such as the Sahel and Central Asia or with refugees leaving drought and hurricane affected Central America to face abuses at southern US borders, Jonathan has been in the belly of the climate beast. He knows what’s coming. And why we need to urgently get our act together.

Jonathan believes the Green Party of Canada is the only party that has shown the morale courage and strength needed to face the coming crises.

Please join us for the Department of Political Studies Honours Thesis Colloquium!

 

Monday, April 3, 2023 

1:00-4:15 PM

Robert Sutherland Hall | Room 202

Light refreshments served

 

Students will present for 10-12 minutes, followed by a Q&A session led by a graduate student discussant. Please consider attending to support the excellent research conducted by our undergraduate students!

 

Panel 1 | 1:00-2:30 PM | International Relations, Comparative Related

“Changing trends in the Taiwan-strait”

Presenter: Kassandra Choi | Discussant: Émile Lambert-Deslandes

“Women as Weapons, Women as People: Understanding the Militarization of Ukraine’s WPS Agenda”

Presenter: Morgan Fox | Discussant: Isabella Aung

“The Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Used by Donald Trump and Boris Johnson and its Cooptation of the British and American Public”

Presenter: Jordan McEwen | Discussant: Jana Walkowski

“EU Enlargement as a Security Strategy: Analyzing the Power and Potential of Ukrainian Accession”

Presenter: Lauren Zweerink | Discussant: Jana Walkowski

 

2:30 Coffee Break (light refreshments will be served)

 

Panel 2 | 2:45-4:15 PM | Canadian Politics Related

“Waiting for the Penny to Drop: Investigating the Potential for a Universal Basic Income in Canada through the Lens of Intimate Partner Violence”

Presenter: Ariel Burgess | Discussant: Kaitie Jourdeuil

“Are LGBTQ+ Identified Federal Candidates at a Disadvantage?: An Examination of Campaign Finance”

Presenter: Kate Burke Pellizzari | Discussant: Elizabeth McCallion

“The Pragmatist Problem: Exploring Ideological Alternatives in Canadian Partisanship”

Presenter: Caitlyn Jenkins | Discussant: Elizabeth McCallion

“Media or Government: Who Took the Lead in Shaping the Public Narrative on 9/11 and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine”

Presenter: Georgia Papathanasakis | Discussant: Émile Lambert-Deslandes

The Department of Political Studies, the Centre for International and Defence Policy, and the School of Policy Studies Present:

Lt-General (ret'd) the Honourable Andrew Leslie

"Russia's War in Ukraine: Why it started, how it's going, what does it mean for the rest of us, Canada's role in comparison to others, and what might happen next"

Thursday, March 23, 2023 | 12:30-1:30 PM

Robert Sutherland Hall, Room 202 | 138 Union Street, Kingston

A light lunch will be served!

 

Biography: 

Lt-General (ret’d) the Honourable Andrew Leslie, PC, CMM, MSC, MSM, CD, BA, MA, PhD (hc) was a soldier and led the 57,000 people in the Canadian Army in fires, floods, earthquakes, security 91��Ƶs, peacekeeping and war (Cyprus, Germany, Croatia, Serbia, Afghanistan and elsewhere), being awarded numerous national and international honours and decorations. He has also been a Senior Vice President of a very large multinational corporation, a Federal Member of Parliament, the Chief Government Whip, the Parliamentary Secretary focused on Canada-US Relations and Trade during the time of NAFTA and was included on varied Federal cabinet committees. He now sits on several corporate boards and speaks on international affairs, leadership, transformation, governance, and crisis response. He was educated at Ottawa University (BA), the Royal Military College (MA) where he was also conferred a Doctorate, various Military Staff Colleges, and both the Harvard Business School and the Rotman School of Business. 

The Department of Political Studies Presents:

Dr. Sheryl Lightfoot - University of British Columbia

"Enhanced Participation of Indigenous Peoples at the UN: Pushing the Boundaries of Indigenous Rights, Statehood, and Human Rights Norms"

Thursday, March 23, 2023 | 2:30-4:00 PM

Robert Sutherland Hall, Room 202 | 138 Union Street, Kingston

Light refreshments will be served!

 

Dr. Lightfoot will be appearing via Zoom.  Attendees have the option to attend in person (in Robert Sutherland Hall, Room 202), OR to join the webinar via Zoom: 

Abstract: 

Throughout the decades that Indigenous peoples have appeared at the UN, only two paths of participation have been available to them: representation by Member States, with whom they are often in conflict, or as non-governmental organizations. Indigenous peoples have not been allowed to represent themselves as nations at the UN. Indigenous peoples have been pushing for an independent status at the United Nations for some time. However, at the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples in 2014, an important shift occurred, as states also committed to making this a reality. In practice, enhanced participation would mean that Indigenous groups, who organize and advocate for themselves in international space, without representing or being represented by states or NGOs, would be engaged in a form of global political self-determination distinct from already existing channels. This paper explores the opportunities and challenges involved in advancing Indigenous peoples’ participation in the UN General Assembly, based on original fieldwork where I have attended drafting and consultation meetings on enhanced Indigenous peoples’ participation.

Biography: 

Sheryl Lightfoot is Anishinaabe, a citizen of the Lake Superior Band of Ojibwe, enrolled at the Keweenaw Bay Community. She is currently Vice Chair and North American Member on the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP). She is Canada Research Chair in Global Indigenous Rights and Politics, and Associate Professor in Political Science and the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs as well as a faculty associate in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies. She is also Senior Advisor to the President on Indigenous Affairs and is leading the implementation of the 2020 Indigenous Strategic Plan across UBC and directs UBC’s Office of Indigenous Strategic Initiatives. She is currently serving as President of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA).

As one of the world’s experts in global Indigenous politics, Sheryl’s research specializes in complex questions of Indigenous peoples’ rights and how those rights are being claimed and negotiated. Her work explores both practical and theoretical aspects of implementation of Indigenous rights globally as well as in domestic contexts. She is the author of Global Indigenous Politics: A Subtle Revolution as well as numerous journal articles and book chapters.

She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Minnesota as well as a master’s degree from the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota. Prior to her academic career, she had fifteen years’ volunteer and contract experience with a number of American Indian tribes and community-based organizations in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, including nine years as Chair of the Board of the American Indian Policy Center, a research and advocacy group.

As a member of the UN Expert Mechanism Sheryl provides the Human Rights Council with expertise and advice on the implementation of the rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Mechanism also assists Member States in achieving the goals of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. She is the first Indigenous woman from Canada to be appointed to this prestigious position.

The Department of Political Studies, the Electoral Integrity Project, the Institute for Intergovernmental Relations, and the School of Policy Studies present:

“Citizen Election Observers in Theory and Practice”

with Martyna Hoffman and Rebecca Wagner of the Electoral Integrity Project

Tuesday, March 21st, 12:00 – 1:30 pm

Robert Sutherland Hall, Room 202

*Light lunch provided

Abstract:

International election observation has become one of the key instruments of international democracy promotion. Less well known but equally widespread, however, are citizen observers. Yet the Copenhagen Document of 1990 and the Venice Com91��Ƶ of 2002 have affirmed that “the participating States consider that the presence of observers, both foreign and domestic, can enhance the electoral process in States where elections are held.” Against the backdrop of global democratic backsliding, this seminar will provide a historical overview of the origins of international and domestic election observation, as well as their fundamental norms and principles. Two empirical case studies will discuss recent developments and challenges in citizen election observation and its role in promoting citizen trust in elections. First, a case study will examine how citizen observers face restrictions and threats during elections, how they respond, and the role of trust in their ability to respond. Second, the case of Poland will be used to discuss the role that citizen observers can play in building trust in elections, and how their actions might be considered to have the opposite effect.

Biographies:

Rebecca Wagner is a doctoral researcher at the Peace Research Institute (PRIF) in Frankfurt where she conducts research on resistance and resilience, international democracy support, civil society and elections. Before joining PRIF, Rebecca gained more than seven years’ experience of international human rights and democracy support work, including participating in ODIHR /OSCE Election Observation Missions and serving as a civic observer. Her most recent election observation 91��Ƶ took her to the USA Midterm Elections in 2022. Rebecca Wagner is member of the research network External Democracy Promotion (EDP). She has degrees from Leiden University, the Netherlands, and the University of Konstanz, Germany.

Martyna Hoffman is a sociologist and PhD student at Nicolaus Copernicus University. Her research focuses on voting accessibility. She runs the research project "On the edge of democracy? Active suffrage practices of people in a situation of homelessness", funded by the Polish National Science Center. She collaborates with Political Accountability Foundation (Fundacja Odpowiedzialna Polityka) - a Polish NGO specialising in election observation. She completed her MA and BA in Sociology at Nicolaus Copernicus University.