In Search of Canadian Political Culture - UBC Press

UBC Press
Critical Policy Studies
Edited by Michael Orsini and Miriam Smith
Critical Policy Studies is, quite simply, a breath of
fresh air. It is a timely intervention into the study
of public policy in Canada that covers important
substantive ground and raises critical questions about
the boundaries of policy studies as a field. This book
will excite undergraduate and graduate students and
stimulate new approaches to the study of public policy
in Canada.
– Leah Vosko, editor of Precarious Employment:
Understanding Labour Market Insecurity in Canada
Critical Policy Studies describes the emergence of new
issues in Canadian public policy in the neoliberal era
and surveys the recent evolution of critical approaches
to policy studies. Traditional definitions of public policy
in Canada have been challenged by globalization, the
transition to the knowledge economy, and the rise of
new technologies. These changes are catapulting new
issues onto the Canadian policy agenda, including the
environment, biotechnology, and public health, as well
as new stakeholders.
Contributors describe these issues, conceptualize
the ways in which public policy questions cut across
the traditional fields of policy, and present critical
approaches to policy studies. Chapters cover both
topical approaches including Foucauldian and postempirical
analysis as well as new applications of
established perspectives, such as political economy.
These perspectives are applied to a variety of
important topics, including security issues, Canadian
sovereignty, welfare reform, environmental protocol,
Aboriginal policy, and reproductive technologies.
Contributors
Frances Abele; Yasmeen Abu-Laban; Peter Graefe; Olena
Hankivsky; Matt James; Luc Juillet; Rachel Laforest and Susan
Phillips; Rianne Mahon, Caroline Andrew, and Robert Johnson;
Karen Bridget Murray; Michael Orsini and Miriam Smith; Denis
Saint-Martin; Mark Salter; Francesca Scala; Miriam Smith; and
Stuart N. Soroka
Michael Orsini is an assistant professor in
the School of Political Studies at the University
of Ottawa. Miriam Smith is a professor in the
Department of Politics at Trent University.
November 2006, 320 pages, 6 x 9”
6 figures, 2 tables
0-7748-1317-2 / 978-0-7748-1317-4
hc $85.00
0-7748-1318-0 / 978-0-7748-1318-1
pb $29.95 (available July 2007)
www.ubcpress.ca / 1 877 864 8477 9