Politics

Joan Grace

Canadian Politics/Comparative Public Policy

Joan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Politics where she teaches Canadian politics, women and politics, public policy and comparative federalism.  She holds a PhD in political science from McMaster University, a MPA from the joint UW/UM program and a honours BA in political science from the University of Victoria.  Joan’s dissertation, The Politics of Policy Transformation: A Comparative Analysis of Child Care and Unemployment Insurance in Canada and Ireland, analysed the challenges confronted by national women’s groups in pursuing and realizing their policy objectives.

Joan was awarded a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Standard Research Grant for her project “Coming to Grips with the State: Women’s Political Activism in Western Canada” which analyses women’s policy advocacy in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.  Joan is also a contributor to a SSHRC Major Collaborative Research Initiative “Multi-level Governance and Public Policy in Canadian Municipalities”.

Joan is a member of two international research networks: FIIN (Feminism and Institutionalism International Network) and FINSA (Feminist International Network on State Architecture).  She has presented numerous papers at Canadian and international conferences.  From September 2008 to December 2008, Joan was a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Canadian Studies at the University of Edinburgh.  Research interests include civil society and policy advocacy,  state architecture and political engagement.

Selected Publications:

“Building from the Ground Up? Municipal Infrastructure in Manitoba”, In R. Young, ed., Multi-Level Governance and Public Policy in Canada (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press. Forthcoming, 2011)

“Gender and Institutions of Multi-level Governance: Child Care and Social Policy Debates in Canada”, in M. Krook and F. Mackay, eds., Gender, Politics and Institutions (Palgrave, 2011)

"Policy Advocacy and Gender Equality: Has the Manitoba “Advantage” Worked for Women?” in P. Thomas, ed., Manitoba Politics and Government into the 21st Century (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2010)

“Dueling for Dollars: Feminist Activism and Minimum Wage Politics”, Canadian Woman Studies, Vol. 25, Nos. 3,4, Summer-Fall 2006, pp. 154-159.

“Cabinet Structure and Executive Style in Manitoba”, in Luc Bernier, Keith Brownsey and Michael Howlett, eds., Executive Styles in Canada: Cabinet Decision-Making Structures and Practices at the Federal and Provincial Levels, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005), pp. 171-183.                       

In For the Long Haul: Women’s Organizing and Political Activism in Manitoba, (Winnipeg: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, August, 2005), pp. 1-24.  

“Challenges and Opportunities in Manitoba: The Social Democratic “Promise” and Women’s Equality”, in William K. Carroll and R.S. Ratner, eds. Challenges and Perils: Social Democracy in Neo-liberal Times, (Halifax: Fernwood Publishing, 2005).   

Kathy Teghtsoonian and Joan Grace, “Something More is Necessary”: The Mixed Achievements of Women’s Policy Agencies in Canadian Job Training Debates”, in Amy G. Mazur, ed., State Feminism, Women’s Movements & Job Training: Making Democracies Work in a Global Economy, (New York: Routledge, 2001), pp. 235-269.

“Sending Mixed Messages: Gender-Based Analysis and the ‘Status of Women’”, Canadian Public Administration, Vol. 40, No. 4, Winter 1997, pp. 582-598.

Reports:

The Market for Doctoral Students in Public Administration in Canada and Feasibility Study of Developing a National Network PhD in Public Administration. (Ottawa: Canadian Association for Programs in Public Administration, 2008).