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Interdisciplinary Research Network on Discrimination and Inclusion

The Interdisciplinary Research Network on Discrimination and Inclusion was established in the Spring 2013 on the initiative of Colleen Sheppard, past Director of the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, in the face of a growing interest for interdisciplinary dialogue on critical perspectives on discrimination, diversity and inclusion. The Network gathers researchers, practitioners as well as collaborators from community-based organizations. Its objectives are to promote interdisciplinary collaboration and reflection on discrimination and inclusion, to share research during local and international workshops, and to promote community-university collaborative research initiatives.

Members’ research projects and practices span a wide range of themes, including, for example, systemic and preventive remedies in anti-discrimination litigation, comparative approaches to discrimination, educational initiatives regarding equity and diversity, diversity and leadership in public and private organizations, and the legal profession, ethno-cultural discrimination against immigrant communities, complexities of identity and identity performance, racial and social profiling, and socio-economic inequality and discrimination.

Recent Publication

Discrimination Stories: Exclusion, Law, and Everyday Life by Colleen Sheppard

Colleen Sheppard -ÌęÌę (Irwin Law, 2021).

Abstract:ÌęDespite growing societal and media attention to problems of discrimination in Canadian society, legal concepts in equality and anti-discrimination law are not widely understood.ÌęDiscrimination Stories: Exclusion, Law, and Everyday LifeÌęexplores diverse legal cases brought before courts and human rights tribunals to help us understand the development of anti-discrimination law in Canada. The cases take us into — and teach us about — the concrete realities of inequality in everyday life. They portray the struggles of individuals, families, and communities seeking justice and legal remedies for the harms of discrimination. The cases also reveal both the strengths and limits of anti-discrimination law. They show that equality in our human relations cannot be crafted exclusively by courts or tribunals, despite their significance and importance. Drawing on the complexity and power of discrimination stories, this book is designed to expand our collective knowledge of the evolving legal concepts at the heart of equality law.

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1. Members of the Interdisciplinary Research Network on Discrimination and Inclusion

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  • Adelle Blackett, Associate professor at the Faculty of Law and William Dawson Scholar
    Areas of interest : Labour Law, International Development Law, Law of International Organizations and Critical Race Theory.
    Publications
  • Angela Campbell, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law
    Areas of interest: family law, health law, criminal law, successions law and feminist legal studies
  • Pearl Eliadis, Human rights lawyer and sessional lecturer
    Areas of interest : human rights, international law, national human rights institutions and democratic governance.
  • Suzanne Gagnon, Co-founding member, Assistant Professor at the Desautels Faculty of Management
    Areas of interest: Diversity and inequality in organizations; identity work and identity dynamics; gender and mentoring; multinational firms; inclusion; leadership diversity; alternative leadership theories.
    Publications
  • Patricia Hewlin, Co-founding member, Assistant Professor at the Desautels Faculty of Management
    Areas of interest: authenticity management, employee silence, leadership, diversity
  • Vrinda Narain, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law and at the Faculty of Arts
    Areas of interest: Constitutional law; Feminist legal theory; Social diversity and law; Postcolonial studies and law; Critical race theory.
    Publications
  • Brian Rubineau, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior, Desautels Faculty of Management, Ïăœ¶ÊÓÆ”.
    Areas of interest: Understanding the relational dynamics perpetuating inequalities in organizations, occupations, and labor markets; and informing ameliorative interventions.
  • Colleen Sheppard, Full Professor at the Faculty of Law and Director of the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism
    Areas of interest: Human Rights (especially equality rights); Systemic discrimination; Intersectionality; Anti-discrimination in the workplace; Mental health and disability in the workplace; Feminist Legal Theory; Economic and Social Rights.
    List of publications: Publications
  • Zoua M. Vang, Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology
    Areas of interest: Immigration; Race and ethnic relations; Residential segregation; Neighborhood effects; Racial/ethnic health disparities and immigrant health; Mixed methods; Social policy.
  • Shauna Van Praagh, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law
    Areas of interest: civil wrongs, common law obligations, social diversity and law, and children and the law.
  • Veronica Amberg, Manager/Responsible at the Social Equity and Diversity Education Office
    Areas of interest: Human rights education and community engagement work at McGill.

Université de Montréal

  • , Professeure titulaire Ă  l’École de relations industrielles
    Champs d’intĂ©rĂȘt: Immigration et intĂ©gration en emploi; DĂ©qualification des immigrĂ©s et rĂ©orientation professionnelle; Jeunes des minoritĂ©s visibles et marchĂ© du travail; Discrimination intersectionnelle; Discrimination systĂ©mique; AccĂšs Ă  l'Ă©galitĂ© et gestion de la diversitĂ©; ÉquitĂ© salariale.

UniversitĂ© du QuĂ©bec Ă  MontrĂ©al (UQÀM)

  • , professeur au DĂ©partement des sciences juridiques de la FacultĂ© de science politique et de droit.
    Champs d’intĂ©rĂȘt : Droits et libertĂ©s de la personne; Droits Ă©conomiques, sociaux et culturels; Droit et religions; accommodements raisonnables; Institutions de protection des droits.
  • , professeure adjointe au DĂ©partement de sexologie, UQÀM
    Champs d’intĂ©rĂȘtÌę: Discrimination des minoritĂ©s sexuelles en milieu scolaire et en milieu de travail, mouvements sociaux autour de la diversitĂ© sexuelle, genre et sexualitĂ©.
  • , professeure au DĂ©partement des sciences juridiques de la FacultĂ© de science politique et de droit
    Champs d’intĂ©rĂȘt : Droit de la santĂ© et de la sĂ©curitĂ© du travail; SantĂ© mentale au travail; Droit Ă  l’égalitĂ©; Recherche-action; MĂ©thodologies qualitatives et mixtes.
  • , Professeur, DĂ©partement de sociologie, UQÀM
    Champs d’intĂ©rĂȘt: Rapports interethniques et immigration; racisme et discrimination; jeunes issus de l’immigration; gestion politique et juridique du pluralisme religieux et culturel; place de la religion dans l’espace public; sociologie du droit; sociologie de la culture; thĂ©orie sociologique; thĂ©ories postcoloniales; inĂ©galitĂ©s sociales et pauvretĂ©; sociologie politique.
  • , professeur retraitĂ© de l’École de travail social de l’UQÀM
    Champs d’intĂ©rĂȘtÌę: Racisme, antisĂ©mitisme et discrimination. Immigration, rĂ©fugiĂ©s et relations interethniques. Droits humains, pratiques sociales et coopĂ©ration internationale.
  • , Professeure Ă©mĂ©rite, DĂ©partement de sociologie, UQÀM
    Areas of interests : Immigration et citoyennetĂ©, Politiques d’immigration et de gestion de la diversitĂ©, Multiculturalisme et interculturalisme, Racisme et discrimination, Nationalisme et transnationalisme
  • , professeure, FacultĂ© des sciences de l’éducation, UQÀM
    Champs d’intĂ©rĂȘtÌę: Rapports ethniques, immigration, Ă©quitĂ©, accommodements raisonnables; Racisme, discriminations, inĂ©galitĂ©s sociales; Discours sociaux/mĂ©dias/reprĂ©sentations rĂ©ciproques; Jeunes des minoritĂ©s; Éducation inclusive, aux droits, antiraciste, interculturelle.

Other Universities or Research Centres

  • , Assistant Professor, Department of Child Law, Leiden Law School, and DCL Candidate, Faculty of Law, McGill
    Areas of interest: constitutional law, human rights, children’s rights, law and religion, education law
  • , MaĂźtre de confĂ©rences en droit privĂ© Ă  l’Institut des mĂ©tiers du droit du Conservatoire National des Arts et MĂ©tiers, membre de RÉGINE, Recherche & Études sur le Genre et les InĂ©galitĂ©s dans les Normes en Europe.
    Champs d’expertise: droit de la non discrimination dans une perspective critique et comparĂ©e; discriminations dans l’emploi et en fin de vie, sur la construction du genre et de la parentalitĂ© en droit social et les interactions entre les discriminations fondĂ©es sur diffĂ©rents critĂšres : le sexe, l’ñge, le handicap et la situation de famille.
  • , Professeure de droit Ă  l’UniversitĂ© François-Rabelais de Tours, chercheuse au , Centre de recherches et d'Ă©tudes sur les droits fondamentaux (UniversitĂ© Paris Paris Ouest Nanterre La DĂ©fense), et co-responsable du projet (Recherches et Études sur le Genre et les InĂ©galitĂ©s dans les Normes en Europe).
    Champs d’expertiseÌę: Droits Ă©conomiques et sociaux, lutte contre l’exclusion sociale, analyse genrĂ©e du droit, protection internationale et europĂ©enne des droits de l’Homme.
  • , Senior professor of Labour and Social Security Law, University of Vigo.
    Areas of interest: Equality Law, Labour Law, Discrimination in the workplace. See also:
  • Olivia Smith, Lecturer in Law, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University
    Areas of interest : Discrimination Law, in particular disability and gender discrimination; inequality and social exclusion, caring and the law.
  • , Senior Lecturer, School of Law, University of Leeds. Areas of interest:ÌęEU law; anti-discrimination law and stigma; weight and law; comparative race and law; intersectional discrimination; critical race theory; social movements; judicial diversity, gender and judging.

Practitioners and members of the community

  • , Equity and Diversity Officer, University of Toronto.
    Interests: equity, hiring, community engagement, empowerment, leadership, humanitarian aid, political engagement.
    Publications:
  • , avocate, ChargĂ©e de formation pour le projet europĂ©en UPRIGHTS sur la demande d'asile des mineurs isolĂ©s, Lyon, France.
    Champs d’intĂ©rĂȘt : discrimination, droit Ă  l'Ă©galitĂ©, droit criminel, pauvretĂ© et justice
  • Adriana Gleenblatt, Education Specialist with Equitas - International Centre for Human Rights Education
    Previous work includes: Staff Lawyer at the Ontario Human Rights Legal Support Centre representing victims of discrimination and Human Rights Code-based harassment and providing public legal education; Teaching Women and Law at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Civil Law; Consultant and facilitator in areas including harassment and discrimination in the workplace
    Areas of interest : human rights educational design and facilitation, discrimination/harassment prevention, mental health, accommodation and wellness in the workplace, gender equality, organizational and individual change and development
  • Tamara Thermitus, AdE, LLM, Justice Canada
    PrĂ©sidente du ComitĂ© sur les communautĂ©s culturelles du Barreau du QuĂ©bec de 2004 Ă  2010, co-initiatrice du projet menant au rapport du Barreau du QuĂ©bec «Forum-Pour une profession inclusive», La diversitĂ© ethnoculturelle dans la profession juridique en 2014 et Ă  l’origine du cours sur le contexte social du droit, aujourd’hui intĂ©grĂ© dans le cursus obligatoire de la formation professionnelle.
  • BĂ©atrice Vizkelety is a human rights lawyer with extensive experience in litigation and as Director of the Legal Department and Secretary of the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse du QuĂ©bec. She is presently a Visiting researcher at the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism and in 2015 was appointed member of the Quebec Bar’s Advisory Committee on Human Rights.

2. Crosscutting research themes

Crosscutting research themes include four axes at this stage. A list of selective thematic bibliographies as well as some current research projects is accessible under each axis.

2.1 Systemic and Structural Discrimination and Institutionalized Inequality / Discrimination systĂ©mique et structurelle et l’inĂ©galitĂ© institutionnelle

Research on the systemic barriers, relationships and dynamics of discrimination in various institutional contexts, including public and private sector workplaces, educational institutions, public services (e.g. racial and social profiling); research on discrimination linked to life-cycle and intersectoral inequities (e.g. home, workplace, education) and macro-historical developments (i.e. political economic changes and regulatory approaches)

Download 2.1.2.1 BIBLIOGRAPHY “Systemic and structural discrimination, and institutionalized equality” [.pdf]

2.2 Diversity and Inclusion

Download 2.1.2.2 BIBLIOGRAPHY "Diversity and Inclusion" [.pdf] (Updated February 2016)

2.3 Complex Identities and Intersecting Discrimination

Research on how discrimination theory deals with intersecting discrimination linked to complex and multiple identities, and the performance of identity

Download 2.1.2.3 BIBLIOGRAPHY "Complex Identities and Intersecting Discrimination" [.pdf] (Updated July 2015)

2.4 Unconscious or Implicit Bias

Research on discrimination linked to implicit or unconscious bias.

Download 2.1.2.4ÌęBIBLIOGRAPHY "Implicit Bias" [.pdf] (Updated July 2015)Ìę

3. Activities of the Research Network

  • Pushkala Prasad, “Diversity, Inclusion and Institutional Change”, June 8, 2016, Desautels Faculty of Management, Ïăœ¶ÊÓÆ”
  • Zoua Vang, “Minority Aging in Canada: Encounters with Everyday Discrimination and the Relative Importance of Race and Age”, April 5, 2016, Faculty of Law, Ïăœ¶ÊÓÆ”.
  • PrĂ©sentation de sur les programmes d’accĂšs Ă  l’égalitĂ© au QuĂ©bec et leurs limites, 9 fĂ©vrier 2016, FacultĂ© de droit, UniversitĂ© McGill. Pour en savoir plus, consultez
  • Suzanne Gagnon, "Beyond belonging and identification: Towards organizational models of change supporting inclusion and social equality", March 31, 2015, Faculty of Law, Ïăœ¶ÊÓÆ”. Download article [.pdf]Ìę
  • Olivia Smith, "Litigating Discrimination on Grounds of Family Status", March 12, 2015, Faculty of Law, Ïăœ¶ÊÓÆ”. Download article [.pdf]
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