-
Canadian Political Science Association2024 Annual Conference Programme
Approaches, Knowledges, and Methods
for the World of Tomorrow
Hosted at McGill University
June 12 to June 14, 20242024 Annual Conference Programme
Approaches, Knowledges, and Methods
for the World of Tomorrow
Hosted at McGill University
June 12 to June 14, 2024
Political Theory
H14(c) - Roundtable: Reading George Grant in the 21st Century
Date: Jun 13 | Time: 03:30pm to 05:00pm | Location: 680 Sherbrooke St. West 395
Chair/Président/Présidente : Tyler Chamberlain (Trinity Western University)
D.H. Forbes (University of Toronto)Colin Cordner (Carleton University)
Brian Thorn (Nipissing University)
Tim Berk (University of Toronto)
Scott Staring (Georgian College)
Toivo Koivukoski (Nipissing University)
Tyler Chamberlain (Trinity Western University)
David Tabachnick (Nipissing University)
Abstract: George Parkin Grant (1918-1988) was one of Canada’s foremost public philosophers. Though his thought arose out of reflection on the history of political philosophy, pressing political concerns were never far from view. He was particularly adept at locating the causes of political developments in philosophical movements that were centuries in the making. This roundtable discussion will reassess his ideas in light of philosophical and political developments of recent decades, including the resurgence of nationalism, criticisms of globalization and technocracy, and the ideological realignments having a particularly noticeable effect on right-wing politics. This roundtable panel features contributors to a recent edited volume on George Grant, Reading George Grant in the 21st Century (Tyler Chamberlain, editor). Each chapter in the book looks at Grant from the vantage point of the 21st century, either by putting him in conversation with contemporary thinkers (or thinkers who continue to have an influence in contemporary politics) or by analyzing emerging political issues in light of Grant’s ideas or emphases. Each of the speakers on this panel reflects on Grant’s broader criticisms of modernity from within a slightly different historical articulation of modernity. Though George Grant died in 1988, the philosophical themes in his work remain relevant into the 21st century.