Political Theory

H21(a) - Rights and Belonging

Date: Jun 5 | Time: 03:30pm to 05:00pm | Location:

Chair/Président/Présidente : Karl Dahlquist (University West)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Marta Bashovski (Campion College at the University of Regina)

When Child Rights Frameworks Fail: Hannah Arendt on the Rightlessness of Children and the Project of Intergenerational Equity: Martha Pitre (McGill University)
Abstract: What explains the failure of the liberal child rights framework in securing participation rights for children? I argue that Hannah Arendt’s writings offer an explanation that challenges the basic assumption that the socio-biological condition of childhood is compatible with the liberal rights and protections framework embodied by the UNCRC. The aim of the paper is not to endorse Arendt’s perspective on children’s political status, rather it is to recover aspects of Arendt’s theory of childhood that might serve the wider project of intergenerational equity. I construct four possible Arendtian responses to the question posed. First, I defend that the liberal child rights framework does not sufficiently account for the way children’s citizenship is limited and contingent on adult guardianship. Following Arendt in Origins of Totalitarianism (1951), I argue that the fragmentary nature of children’s citizenship makes the essential link between children and their political community too thin for the successful recognition of their participatory rights. Second, I consider the exclusion of children from the vita activa. I defend that an Arendtian interpretation suggests that the adult paradigm for political action cannot be easily transposed onto children. In the final section, I raise that Arendt’s preoccupation with the exclusion of children from public life has as much to do with her dismissal of children’s distinct capacities as her concern with the adult crisis of responsibility. Participatory rights for children are meaningless without thoroughgoing collaboration with adults who take joint responsibility for the world that they have helped build.

Relationality and the Right to Housing: Renee McBeth (University of Alberta)
Abstract: A growing “right-to-housing” movement promises transformative responses to homelessness. However, in emphasising rights claims rather than relationships, such approaches appear to be in tension with those focused on relationality, emphasized by Indigenous scholars and housing providers. This paper outlines three narratives – readiness, rights, and relationality – as contemporary understandings of the underlying causes and appropriate responses to homelessness. What are the opportunities of the new rights-based approaches and what if they were to engage meaningfully with relationality? Rights-based frameworks confront systemic housing issues through legal challenges and legislative mechanisms, or advance models like Housing First that reject the notion unhoused individuals should demonstrate “housing readiness” prior to accessing permanent housing. Although rights narratives are rhetorically positioned as different from readiness narratives, both share an atomistic ontology that makes it hard to imagine other ways of relating to property, to housing, and to each other. Informed by community-based research and literature in political theory, housing studies, and Indigenous law, I suggest emerging rights-based approaches will be more effective if they ground housing responses in a framework of relational interdependence.

Reframing Togetherness: The Canadian Aporia in NFBC Storytelling: John Bessai (University College of the North)
Abstract: How can storytelling mediate the contradictions of coexistence in a pluralistic society? This paper explores the National Film Board of Canada (NFBC) as a cultural institution grappling with the Canadian aporetic condition—the tensions between colonial legacies, multiculturalism, and environmental stewardship—through storytelling that reimagines togetherness. This research examines how the NFBC addresses these contradictions by focusing on Circa 1948 and Bear 71. Circa 1948 reconstructs post-war Vancouver to interrogate urban displacement and inequity, connecting past injustices to contemporary urban dynamics. Bear 71, an interactive digital documentary, critiques human encroachment on ecosystems, linking ecological degradation to broader societal tensions. Using frameworks from political theory and environmental humanities, this research highlights the NFBC’s potential to bridge historical narratives with contemporary challenges. By enabling dialogue on themes of memory, identity, and resilience, these projects exemplify storytelling as a method of reframing societal issues and inspiring collaborative solutions. This analysis argues that storytelling can mediate societal tensions by enabling reflection and offering a shared vision of coexistence.

Assisted Dying: Nudged to Death: Yerin Chung (Queen's University)
Abstract: Political philosophy has always focused on how (we ought) to achieve the “good life”, but what about a “good death”? The medical assistance in dying (MAID) policy in Canada was amended to permit those suffering (solely) from severe mental illnesses to be able to request MAID since 2021, yet there have been several delays. This paper investigates how contextual complexities that contribute to mental health issues may pose serious problems of justice and hinder policy implementation. While recognizing that (solely) psychological pain and suffering as a result of mental health issues may be just as painful, or in some cases, worse, than medical conditions such as illness, disease and disability, the expansion of assisted dying (AD) in non-ideal contexts may generate serious ethical concerns in practice. It is not difficult to imagine a slippery slope where a veteran or inmate may be (involuntarily) nudged into requesting MAID. Thus, we cannot rely on “good faith” to safeguard against coercion. Rash implementation of AD policies may lead to consequences which may be detrimental to society, and most particularly to vulnerable populations; after all, death is irreversible. It will be vital to find a prudent way to balance access to MAID with the needed safeguards to offer guidance for future public health policy.