The list, CANADA-ALC, is intended to be an academic space on which to post information about articles, books, projects, talks, conferences, seminars, videos, etc., on any social science aspect of Canada's relations with countries in the region or with the region as a whole.
It responds to a need expressed by participants in recent panels on the topic of Canada in the Americas, organized by CERLAC for conferences such as the 2012 CALACS Congress and the 2010 Congress of the Humanities & Social Sciences. These participants identified the need for more exchange and better communication among those interested in critically analyzing Canada's role in the hemisphere.
Canada's involvement in the Americas is complex and growing. A useful overview is available in a special issue of NACLA (Vol. 43 Issue 3, May/June 2010) entitled Empire's Apprentice: Canada in Latin America. In the overview article, CERLAC Fellows Ricardo Grinspun (Economics, York) and Yasmine Shamsie (Political Science, Wilfred Laurier) trace Canada's contradictory foreign policy commitments: on the one hand, a neoliberal trade strategy, and on the other, a stated policy of respecting the democratic process, favoring multilateralism in diplomatic affairs, and rigorously adhering to human rights and environmental standards. Another useful overview can be found in Peter McKenna's edited volume Canada Looks South: In Search of an Americas Policy (University of Toronto Press, 2012). The chapter by Ricardo Grinspun and CERLAC Research Associate Jennifer Mills surveys Canada's renewed push since 2007 for strengthened ties with countries in the region. This effort is firmly linked to the trade docket, joining up with the region's most conservative governments, and working as part of an effort to resist post-neoliberal hemispheric trends.
If you would like to join the list please write to cerlac@yorku.ca.
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From: Official Program CALACS 2012 "Between Indigeneity and the Transnational: Place and Mobility in Latin America and the Caribbean"
Special IDRC Panel: Canada in the Americas
"Canadian Investment Treaties and Environmental Governance in Latin America" Ricardo Grinspun, York University
"Mercados y derechos globales: reflexiones sobre la realidad de pueblos indígenas de Canadá y América Latina" José Aylwin, Observatorio de Temuco
"Canadian foreign policy toward Latin America: Stealth policy or Good Business Sense" Pablo Heidrich, North-South Institute
"Canada's Policy in the Americas – What Role for Civil Society?" Rachel Warden, KAIROS/APG
"Generating Rights for Communities Harmed by Mining: Legal and Other Action" Liisa L. North, with Laura Young, FES, York/CERLAC
Discussant: Maria del Carmen Suescun Pozas, CALACS/Brock University
Organizers: Eduardo Canel, Ricardo Grinspun, Maria del Carmen Suescun Pozas
Chair: Eduardo Canel