David MacDonald

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I am a full professor of political science at the University of Guelph, Canada.

In my work, I focus on Comparative Indigenous Politics in Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand, United States. I have also worked expensively in the areas of International Relations, American foreign policy, Holocaust and genocide studies, and critical race theory.

Latest books:

The Sleeping Giant Awakens: Genocide, Indian Residential Schools, and the Challenge of Conciliation (University of Toronto Press, 2019) https://utorontopress.com/us/the-sleeping-giant-awakens-4 Finalist for the “best subsequent” book prize for the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association. Finalist for the Donald Smiley Prize of the Canadian Political Science Association, for the best book in Canadian government and politics.
Populism and World Politics: Exploring Inter and Transnational Dimensions Co-Edited with D Nabers and F Stengel (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019) https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783030046200
Comparative Politics: Integrating Theories, Methods, and Cases, First Canadian Edition Co-authored with T. Dickovick and J. Eastwood (Oxford University Press, 2020) http://www.oupcanada.com/catalog/9780199026548.html

My mother's family is Trinidadian Indian and my father's family is originally from Scotland but goes back many generations in Nova Scotia. Since these roots have been important in my upbringing and influence the direction of my work, I inevitably bring a multicultural perspective to pressing issues in political science which I hope creates a useful angle through which to assess some aspects of international and domestic politics.

My work is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and I have been successful in obtaining three grants since 2009, and co-applicant on another. From 1999-2002, I was Assistant Visiting Professor at the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (now ESCP- Europe). In 2002, I began a permanent position in the Political Studies Department at the University of Otago, New Zealand. I joined the University of Guelph in 2007.

I have an active SSHRC Insight Grant as Principal Investigator:

"Complex Sovereignties: Theory and Practice of Indigenous-Self Determination in Settler States and the International System” (with Sheryl Lightfoot)

I am also a co-applicant on these grants:
“Decolonizing Settler States: Unravelling Systemic Blockages to Indigenous Rights in State Institutions and Civil Society,” (Sheryl Lightfoot at UBC is PI; 2021-24)
“Transformative Memory: Strengthening an International Network” SSHRC Partnership Development Grant (Pilar Riano-Alcala at UBC is PI; 2018-21).

I have also worked with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, the NGO Facing History and Ourselves, and the Mosaic Institute in Toronto.

Please email me if you are interested in graduate supervision at the University of Guelph.

Experience

  • 2007–present
    Professor of Political Science, University of Guelph
  • 2017–2020
    University Research Leadership Chair, University of Guelph
  • 2002–2007
    Senior lecturer, University of Otago
  • 1999–2002
    Assistant visiting professor, ESCP-EAP European School of Management

Education

  • 2001 
    London School of Economics, PhD International Relations
  • 1996 
    University of Ottawa, MA Political Science
  • 1995 
    Carleton University, BA Honours Political Science

Publications

  • 2021
    Introduction to Politics Second Edition Co-Authored Third Edition Forthcoming, Oxford University Press
  • 2021
    Settler Silencing and the Killing of Colten Boushie: Naturalizing Colonialism in the Trial of Gerald Stanley, Settler Colonial Studies
  • 2020
    Comparative Politics: Integrating Theories, Methods, and Cases, First Canadian Edition co-authored with T. Dickovick and J. Eastwood, Oxford University Press
  • 2020
    The United Nations as both Foe and Friend to Indigenous Peoples and Self-Determination, co-author Sheryl Lightfoot , E-International Relations
  • 2020
    Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Assessing context, process, and critiques, Griffith Law Review Vol. 29, No. 1
  • 2019
    The Sleeping Giant Awakens: Genocide, Indian Residential Schools, and the Challenge of Conciliation, University of Toronto Press
  • 2019
    Populism and World Politics: Exploring Inter- and Transnational Dimensions Co-Edited, Palgrave MacMillan
  • 2017
    Treaty Relations between Indigenous Peoples: Advancing Global Understandings of Self-Determination, co-author Sheryl Lightfoot, New Diversities Vol. 19, No. 2
  • 2017
    Sovereignty, Indigeneity and Carceral Politics: From Canada’s Forced Removals of Indigenous Children to the Imprisonment of Adults” (co-authored with my PhD student Jackie Gillis) , Sites: New Series Vol. 14, No. 1
  • 2016
    Do We Need Kiwi Lessons in Biculturalism? Considering the Usefulness of Aotearoa/New Zealand's Pākehā Identity in Re-Articulating Indigenous Settler Relations in Canada, Canadian Journal of Political Science, Volume 49, Issue 4
  • 2015
    Canada’s history wars: indigenous genocide and public memory in the United States, Australia, and Canada, Journal of Genocide Research, Volume 17, No 4
  • 2014
    Europe In Its Own Eyes, Europe In The Eyes Of The Other Co-Edited With Mary Decoste, Wilfred Laurier University Press
  • 2014
    Reforming Multiculturalism in a Bi-National Society: Aboriginal Peoples and the Search for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada, Canadian Journal of Sociology, Vol 39, No 1
  • 2013
    Reconciliation After Genocide in Canada: Towards a Syncretic Model of Democracy, AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples Volume 9, Number 1
  • 2012
    The Genocide Question and Indian Residential Schools in Canada (with G. Hudson), Canadian Journal of Political Science, Vol 45, No 2
  • 2009
    Thinking History, Fighting Evil – Neoconservatives and the Perils of Analogy in American Politics , Lexington / Rowman & Littlefield
  • 2008
    Identity Politics In The Age Of Genocide: The Holocaust and Historical Representation , Routledge
  • 2007
    The Ethics Of Foreign Policy ​Co-Edited With R.G. Patman And B. Mason-Parker, Ashgate
  • 2003
    Balkan Holocausts? Serbian And Croatian Victim Centered Propaganda and The War In Yugoslavia ​, Manchester University Press

Grants and Contracts

  • 2021
    "Decolonizing Settler States: Unravelling Systemic Blockages to Indigenous Rights in State Institutions and Civil Society"
    Role:
    Co-Applicant
    Funding Source:
    SSHRCC
  • 2017
    “Complex Sovereignties: Theory and Practice of Indigenous-Self Determination in Settler States and the International System”
    Role:
    Principal Investigator
    Funding Source:
    SSHRCC
  • 2013
    “Bi-Nationalism as a form of Aboriginal-Settler Reconciliation in a Multicultural Context: What Can Canada Learn from New Zealand's Model of Power-Sharing?”
    Role:
    Principal Investigator
    Funding Source:
    SSHRCC
  • 2013
    “Embodying Empathy: Fostering Historical Knowledge and Caring Through a Virtual Indian Residential School”
    Role:
    C-Applicant
    Funding Source:
    SSHRCC
  • 2009
    “Indigenous People and the UN Genocide Convention: A Study of Indigenous Assimilation Policies in Canada”
    Role:
    Principal Investigator
    Funding Source:
    SSHRCC

Professional Memberships

  • International Studies Association
  • Canadian Political Science Association
  • Native American and Indigenous Studies Association

Contact David for

  • General
  • Media request
  • Speaking request
  • Consulting / Advising
  • Research collaboration
  • Research supervision