Teaching

M18 - Three Minute Thesis Competition (Final)

Date: Jun 14 | Time: 12:00pm to 01:30pm | Location: 680 Sherbrooke St. West 1085

Jurors:
Félix Mathieu (University of Winnipeg)
Julie Théroux-Séguin (Leader thématique principale - Droits des femmes et des filles, Global Thematic Leader - Rights of Women and Girls, CECI | Renforcer le pouvoir des femmes et des filles)
Jean-Charles St-Louis (Chargé de projets, coordination des activités de formation et de soutien aux apprentissages, Institut Universitaire SHERPA - SHERPA University Institute (sherpa-recherche.com)

Prizes! Winner $700; first runner up $400; second runner up $200
Prix ! Le/a lauréate 700 $ ; deuxième place 400 $ ; troisième place 200 $

We are grateful to the sponsors of this competition: ABACUS-DATA and the Department of Political Science of Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
Nous remercions les commanditaires de cette compétition : ABACUS-DATA et le département de science politique de la Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

JustInflated: Pierre Poilievre’s Neoliberal Populist Style on YouTube: Aidan Harris (University of Guelph)
Abstract: I analyzed Pierre Poilievre’s 2022 Conservative leadership campaign videos. My questions were: (1) to what extent did Poilievre perform the populist political style on YouTube during his leadership campaign? (2) If so, was his online style of populism uniquely Canadian? I conducted a qualitative and quantitative content analysis of his YouTube campaign videos. YouTube was chosen for three reasons: (1) it is an understudied platform in the digital politics literature, (2) it is the second most popular social media platform in Canada (only behind Facebook), and (3) it has been identified as a place for right-wing radicalization with a strong affinity towards populism. The results of my study revealed that Poilievre consistently performed a populist political style unique to the Canadian tradition of neoliberal populism. Unlike the radical-right populism of Europe and the United States, neoliberal populism places a greater emphasis on fiscal restraint, small government, and a free market economy. In this regard, Poilievre spent much of his campaign on national and pocketbook economics while framing these issues under the populist dichotomy of ‘the people’ versus ‘the elite’. Overall, this paper makes several contributions to the digital politics literature and the Canadian literature on populism. First, it provides an in-depth analysis of YouTube, a social media platform that is understudied in political science. Second, it makes a theoretical contribution by reworking Moffit’s (2016) original approach. Third, it makes a methodological contribution by creating a codebook for populist performances. Lastly, this paper contributes to the Canadian literature on populism.

Suivre la science, ou suivre l’incertitude ? Étude comparative de l’impact de l’incertitude et des émotions sur les politiques sanitaires durant la pandémie de COVID-19 au Québec et en Suède: Antoine Lemor (Université de Montréal)
Abstract: Au commencement de la pandémie de COVID-19 les gouvernements cherchent à mettre en œuvre des mesures efficaces pour protéger les populations. Ils disent « suivre la science ». Les connaissances scientifiques sont pourtant incertaines, et cette incertitude est reproduite avec chaque nouveau variant. On connait mal le mode de transmission du virus, ses caractéristiques, et même l’efficacité des mesures est incertaine. Sur quelles bases scientifiques les décideurs se sont-ils appuyés lorsqu’ils ont affirmé « suivre la science » ? Ma thèse explore cette problématique en se penchant sur le Québec, particulièrement sévère durant la pandémie, et la Suède, plus permissive. Pourquoi ces différences ? Ma recherche révèle que l'interface science-politique publique—c’est-à-dire l’organisation institutionnelle du conseil scientifique et de la décision—joue un rôle clé car elle module l’effet de l’incertitude. La littérature montre que l’incertitude produit des comportements de protection. Toutefois, des différences existent entre scientifiques et décideurs. Les décideurs, imputables face au public, peuvent recourir à des réactions préventives sans preuves solides. Les scientifiques, professionnellement habitués à l'incertitude, peuvent adopter une approche plus mesurée fondée sur des preuves. A l’aide de méthodes mixtes composées d’une analyse de réseau décrivant les deux interfaces science-politique publique, et de méthodes poussées d’analyse du langage naturel mesurant l’incertitude, les sentiments négatifs et leurs impacts, ma thèse montre que comparativement à la Suède, l’incertitude a été au Québec le principal moteur de la sévérité des mesures. Dans une interface politiquement centralisée, c'est l'incertitude plutôt que la science qui guide souvent les décisions.

Ancestry.com, Big Data, & The Will to Identity: Toward a Genealogy of Genealogy: Hailey-Ann Walker (Carleton University)
Abstract: The advent of genetic testing and ancestry services has transformed personal and familial genealogy from the niche pursuit of family tree hobbyists to a multi-billion-dollar industry. Ancestry.com dominates this industry and has amassed over 22 million DNA samples and an astonishing collection of over 40 billion archival artefacts including international birth, marriage, and death records, census and voter data, immigration and travel records, military enlistment and casualty records, school and church directories, and tax, crime, land, and will records. Increasingly, Ancestry’s massive datastores have become embroiled in contemporary controversies around data privacy, genetic science, immigration, and law enforcement. More broadly, Ancestry.com data has become an expedient way for politicians, academics, and citizens alike to historically and scientifically ‘validate’ (or ‘invalidate’) ancestral and ethnic claims in a wider ‘culture of identity’, wherein the will to know, broadcast, and authenticate one’s roots and ethnic belonging saturates public life. As such, this project contends that archival relics and genetic material have ascended new status as a mode of political capital (both symbolic and material) which is neither reducible to market logics nor under the exclusive purview of the state. This research examines the emergence and evolution of Ancestry.com and the digital consolidation and deployment of Ancestry data across a transversal and interactive culturalgovernmental field. In doing so, the project breaks rich empirical terrain upon which we can better problematize the multitude of practices through which the private and leisurely genealogical pursuits of individuals and families are rendered a convenient assemblage in the management and governing of populations.