Feminist Governance in Times of Crisis
 
        
Overview
The first two decades of the 21st century have been shaped by seemingly unending crises. 9/11, the ’08 Financial Crisis, climate change, growing international hostilities and the COVID-19 pandemic have brought widespread attention to persistent and intersectional inequalities, leading to both growing demands for social justice and hard-right backlash. Moreover, democratic backsliding and post-truth pose significant threats to liberal democracies around the world. In short, the 21st century is so far tumultuous, marked by increasing polarization, skepticism and mistrust. As a result, we are not only witnessing the exacerbation of existing inequalities, but also the erosion of hard-won gains for marginalized communities, notably queer, racialized and migrant communities.
In response to these trends, every major international organization, including the Organization for Economic Development and Co-operation, the World Bank, and the United Nations, as well as several governments around the world, such as Canada, Spain, Nicaragua and Namibia, are calling for intersectional approaches to public policy that centre the experiences of marginalized communities.
It is in this context that we created the Working Group on Feminist Governance in Times of Crisis. In association with the Feminist Policy Lab, the working group brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars seeking to understand the intersectional dimensions of policy processes and outcomes and to explore how policy can challenge and transform existing power relations across all social locations. Collectively, our membership, including both faculty and students, represents all four faculties at Concordia University and includes folks from across and outside of Canada. The working group will showcase cutting-edge feminist and anti-oppression research on all aspects of public governance, including policy institutions, processes, and outcomes, and specific policy sectors, such as the economy, health, technology and innovation, and social policy. To that end, our expertise spans politics and policy, economics, organizations and leadership, STEM, and communications.
 
        
Organizers
Francesca Scala, Professor
 Department of Political Science
Stephanie Paterson, Professor
 Department of Political Science
Student Coordinator:
Logan Bates, PhD candidate
 Department of Political Science
 Email: logan.bates@concordia.ca
Key questions
The work of the group is informed by the following questions:
- How have governments around the world responded to persistent and growing inequality? How do these approaches differ, e.g., whole-of-government, sector-specific, deliberative/participatory vs. technocratic, etcetera.
- How does “crisis” shape interventions relating to inequality? e.g., Who is constructed to be “at risk?” Who is constructed to be “risky?"
- How can feminist approaches to governance/public policy challenge and transform existing governance/policy institutions, processes, and outcomes?
Group members
Francesca Scala
 Department of Political Science
Stephanie Paterson
 Department of Political Science
Nora Jaffary
 Department of History
Kim Manning
 Simone de Beauvoir Institute, Department of Political Science
Catherine Richardson
 School of Community and Public Affairs
Nalini Mohabir
 Department of Geography, Planning and Environment
Meghan Joy
 Department of Political Science
Chantal Maiile
 Simone de Beauvoir Institute
Ketra Schmitt
 Centre for Engineering in Society 
Anna Kruzynski
 School of Community and Public Affairs
Krista Lynes
 Department of Communication Studies
Claudine Mangen
 John Molson School of Business
Anna Sheftel
 School of Community and Public Affairs
Sarah Ghabriel
 Department of History
Océane Jasor
 Department of Sociology and Antropology
Amy Mazer
 Washington University
Sarah Wiebe
 University of Victoria
Alana Cattapan
 University of Waterloo
Kate Bezanson
 Brock University
Michael Orsini
 University of Ottawa
Ethel Tungohan
 York University
Fiona MacDonald
 University of Northern British Colombia
Lisa Smith
 Douglas College
Lindsay Larios
 University of Manitoba
Tammy Findlay
 Mount Saint Vincent University
Nisha Nath
 Athabasca University
Isabelle Engali
 University of Exeter (UK)
Manon Laurent
 College de France
Alexandra Dobrowolsky
 Saint Mary's University
Victoria Jonas
 Concordia University – INDI, PhD
Nohémie Matomo Bakura
 Concordia University – Political Science, MA
Logan Bates
 Concordia University – Political Science, PhD
Lily Campbell
 Concordia University – Political Science, MA (incoming)
Alexandria Hammond
 McGill University – Political Science, PhD
Amrita Kumar-Ratta
 University of Toronto – Geography, PhD
Iris Bradford
 Concordia University – Political Science, PhD
Chloe Battista
 Concordia University – Political Science, MA
Francesco MacAllister-Caruso
 Concordia University – Political Science, PhD
Anton Clark
 Concordia University – Film Studies, PhD
Oonagh Fitzgerald
 Concordia University – INDI, PhD (recently completed)
Meghan Houle
 Concordia University – Political Science, PhD
 
                        