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2002 Abstracts / Résumés des exposés 2002 Abizadeh, Arash ([email protected]) - Can Habermasian Discourse Shake the Charge of Motivational Impotence? On Constitutional Patriotism, Rhetoric, and Affect - Civic republican and cultural nationalist critics charge that Habermas's notion of constitutional patriotism is too affectively thin and thus impotent to motivate social integration. In this paper, I undertake critically to examine the philosophical underpinnings of Habermas's political theory in order to show how the susceptibility of his notion of constitutional patriotism to the charge of impotence can be traced to a problem in the way in which he conceives of discursive practical reason. By implicitly constructing the notion of discursive rationality in contrast to, and in abstraction from, the rhetorical and affective components of language use, Habermas's notion of discursive practical reason ends up reiterating the same binaries - between reason and passion, abstract and concrete, universal and particular - that provide the tacit parameters used by his critics to motivate the charge of impotence. I undertake to demonstrate how Habermas's theory of social and political integration can only succeed once his discourse ethical theory of politics is rebuilt upon a notion of discursive practical reason that overcomes these philosophy/rhetoric binaries common to both camps. This paper fits into a larger project about the relationship between discourse, rhetoric, and identity in democratic politics. Abu-Laban, Yasmeen ([email protected]) - Multi-Culturalism and the Problem of Essentialism: Canadian and International Developments - In Canada, the introduction of an official policy of multiculturalism in 1971 provided a new understanding of what it meant to be a Canadian citizen. Today, on both sides of the Atlantic, multiculturalism is being debated and increasingly presented as a "problem" for politics and ethics. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it overviews Canadian political debates surrounding multiculturalism policy since 1990. In this period, multiculturalism emerged as a hotly contested political issue. Much of this debate has centred on the question of whether or not multiculturalism is desirable for national unity. However, more recently, in the context of the new international "war on terrorism," multiculturalism is being debated in relation to issues of national and international security. Second, this paper overviews the ever-bourgeoning theoretical literature on multiculturalism from 1990. In this period, multiculturalism as an ideal has been debated by Canadian, American and European political philosophers concerned with addressing the possibilities and limits of liberalism, and by extension, Western liberal democracies. In this paper it is suggested that multiculturalism as a vision of citizenship, and as a set of policy practices aimed at giving recognition and rights to minorities is valuable on the grounds of equity in Canada and other liberal democracies. It is argued that rather than multiculturalism, it is essentialist thinking, imagery and ideas which present the greatest "problem" in contemporary politics and political theory. This paper will make use of secondary sources (including the work of leading political theorists) as well as primary sources (including newspaper articles, parliamentary debates and party platforms and statements). This paper builds on my published work which deals with immigration and multiculturalism policies in Canada, political parties and political representation (especially along lines of gender, race and class), and citizenship theory. The focus in this paper should contribute to the workshop on citizenship, immigration and itegration both empirically (with the case of Canada) and theoretically. Adams, Christopher ([email protected]) - The Canadian Grain Trade, Evolving Policies, and the Global Order in the 1990s - This paper examines the extent to which federal government policies and relations with farm organizations in the 1990s were largely shaped by international forces. The method of analysis used includes interviews with organizational leaders and decision-makers (Canadian Wheat Board, Canadian Fed of Agriculture, etc), international reports and data on wheat prices and trade developments, Statistics Canada data regarding farm incomes and supports, and secondary publications. Using a structural approach to understanding interest group behaviours and impact, this research will help inform those seeking to further understand Canadian policies as they are shaped by the international environment as well as interest group behaviours within the agricultural sector. Anant, Arpita ([email protected]) - Local Activism? Global Implications of Dalit Activism - Drawing on the recent work of Thomas Risse, Stephen C.Ropp and Kathryn Sikkink entitled " The Power of Human Rights: International Norms and Domestic Change" my paper will be an attempt to study the impact of the norms of international human rights on the discourse of "Dalit Rights" in India.I will discuss the applicability of the 'spiral model' of internalization of international norms in the Indian context with reference to the Dalits, a group disempowered on the basis of their caste. Moving beyond the discussion in the book, and with the aim of complementing the top-down model of the authors, I will attempt to argue that the evolution of Dalit activism at the international level has important consequences for regime change;it may well have transformed the power-based regime enforced by a hegemon to a cognitive one based on an intersubjective understanding of the meaning of discrimination and disempowerment. The method of analysis will be historical/analytical.Tentatively, Section I of the paper will present the hisorical evolution of the rights of Dalits under the Indian Constitution.Section II will look at the process of 'internationalization' of the Dalit concerns in international forums.In Section III, I will analyse the effect of internationalization on the self-perceptions of the group and the change, if any, in the official policies concerning them.Section IV will assess the implications of the inclusion of the concerns of Dalits in the ambit of human rights for the existing regime.Section V will examine the theoretical implications of the phenomenon of the linkage of the local and the global for theories of international relations in general and regime theory in particular. The proposal is based on my Ph.D synopsis entitled " Group Rights in the International and Indian Discourses" for which I am enrolled at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. Andrew, Caroline ([email protected]) - La participation politique des femmes de l`Ontario francais - A bilingual (or french) presentation of the work being done on the political participation of Franophone women in Ontario by the Table féministe de concertation provinciale. The Table, which brings together a large variety of Francophone women`s groups in Ontario, has been pursuing a number of interrelated projects trying to pose the question of the options for political participation that best suit the needs and particular circumstances of Francophone women in Ontario. A study was done of different possible avenues for political participation, another of ways of renewing local leadership through encouraging women to consider municipal politics and another in terms of developing workshops around the development of political skills. The presentation will look at the projects in terms of their definitions of politics, the kinds of participation being envisaged and the ways of engaging Francophone women in this discussion. Ayres, Jeffrey ([email protected]) - Contentious Politics in North America - This paper will investigate the extent to which the post-NAFTA context of economic integration has encouraged new patterns of contentious political behavior. Have regular patterns of social and political contestation--both institutional and non-institutional--emerged between North American citizen groups and decision- making authorities? Does this political conflict have North American policies, institutions and actors as targets? Are there processes or forms that are relatively exogenous to any particular state? My research suggests that we are witnessing a significant upsurge in transnaitonal civic participation since NAFTA, and the rise of regularized patterns of political conflict are helping to outline the contours of a nascent North American polity. This paper will thus analyze the significant growth in institutionalized and non- institutionalized contentious collective action within North America. Formal working groups composed of trinationally-cooperation NGOs have increasingly petitioned the Commission for Environmental Cooperation and the Commission for Labour Cooperation, while a plethora of informal parallel strikes, cross-border coalitions, transnational solidarity actions and a diffusion of protest forms and tactics have emerged, creating what might be considered a North American political conflict structures. The empirical research will be supported by qualitative data collected from fieldwork in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico over the past several years. Baier, Gerald ([email protected]) - Aboriginals and Canadian Federalism: From Judicial Review to Co-operative Federalism - Aboriginal peoples in Canada have been uniquely influenced by the judicial review of federalism. Arguably this is as important a forum for the development