Workshop 7 - Canada and the United States (Presented by International Relations)

04 - Workshop-Canada and the United States II

Date: Jun 2 | Time: 01:45pm to 03:15pm | Location: FSS 4006

Chair/Président/Présidente : Shaun Narine (St. Thomas University)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Shaun Narine (St. Thomas University)

A Case Study in Control: Trump, Universities, and the Authoritarian Strategy: Marika Barbieri-Antonoglou (University of Ottawa), Daniel Stockemer (University of Ottawa)
Abstract: This study highlights how Donald Trump's first six months back in office have showcased an aggressive executive attack on academic freedom, an attack that bears the hallmarks of an illiberal regime. Drawing on executive orders, legislation and media reports from January 20th, 2025, until July 20th 2025, our analysis situates Donald Trump's actions against academia alongside an existing pattern of authoritarian strategies. This analysis, which is organized around three central hypotheses: that the administration is defunding and restricting academic programs, is actively centralizing university governance, and is targeting dissenting scholars and research, showcases that the Trump administration’s actions at the beginning of its second term greatly mirror those used by past and contemporary authoritarian regimes. These findings highlight how American academia is being reshaped into an ideologically compliant institution through executive pressures and coercion. Thus, these parallels contribute to a broader debate on democratic backsliding by highlighting how academia can serve as both a site and a signal of democratic erosion in America.

The Rise of Tech right in the U.S and International Relations: huiyun tang (York university)
Abstract: Since 2024 election in the U.S, the rise of American tech right has become a focus issue in the world. Many papers have talked about the role of tech right in American politics while less papers have discussed the role of tech right in international relations. In this paper, I will mainly analyze that how American tech right affect international relations. To begin with, tech right affect international order, particular in international ideology order. The tech right support populism value and white supremacy ideology by social media, such as X and Facebook, which helps conservative value dominate in the world. In addition, the tech right influence international pattern, which make technology competition salience in the world. Actually, the final aim of tech right is to realize tech acceleration, which abolished the limitations of technology development and make U.S dominate in global technology competition. Last but not least, the tech right plays an important role in global governance, such as global technology governance and so on. Currently, Although Musk has organized the new parry, tech right will dominate in Trump’s second administrative policy and affect American foreign policy. Consequently, scholars should follow the role of American tech right in international relations in the long run .

Divisions and Threats to Academic Freedom in International Relations (IR): Mehak Kapur (York University)
Abstract: Increasing internal and external threats to academic freedom are cementing divisiveness among knowledge producers/academics, including IR scholars. Many works have evaluated internal and external threats to academic freedom; however, as Norris (2025) has acknowledged, threats to academic freedom are not new. For example, IR’s reflexivity addresses this issue of academic freedom in works analyzing the sociology of the discipline, research, and pedagogical practices (e.g., Hoffmann, 1977; Hagmann & Biersteker, 2014). The unequal distribution and exercise of this academic freedom is also pointed out by the critical scholars from Feminist, Decolonial-Postcolonial, Poststructuralist, and Marxist perspectives. Recently, the Trump administration’s attacks on academic freedom and DEI initiatives have led to a migration of US academics. For Canada, this migration has added to the Americanisation of Canadian academia due to hiring patterns that prioritize hiring American PhD holders while teaching and nontenured tracks remain dominated by Canadian PhDs. Furthermore, changes to Canadian immigration rules have marginalized the place of non-Canadians with Canadian PhDs within Canadian academia. As a result, divisiveness is deepening among academics based on internal and external threats to academic freedom, laying the conditions to produce fear-dominated research and teaching. The situation demands immediate attention if IR wants to provide research and pedagogy that is transformative, empowering, peace oriented, and not fear producing for the ‘international’ environment.