Canadian Politics

Session: A4(c) - A Tribute to Stephen Clarkson I: Multiple Governance Dilemmas in the ‘New’ North America post-NAFTA-CETA (see/voir G4(a))

Date: May 30, 2017 | Time: 01:30pm to 03:00pm | Location: VIC-303 (Victoria Building)| iOS / Outlook

Joint Session / Séance conjointe: with/avec Political Economy/Économie politique

Chair/Présidente: Marjorie Griffin Cohen ( Simon Fraser University)

Discussant/Commentatrice: Marjorie Griffin Cohen ( Simon Fraser University)

Participants & Authors/Auteurs:

Andrew Cooper (University of Waterloo) : Stephen Clarkson and Canada's Perennial Question, Not Independent Enough Due to Structural Constraints, or with Some Capacity for Agency?
Abstract: I will explore this theme by looking at Stephen's writings from his earlier works (especially his influential 1968 edited book, An Independent Foreign Policy for Canada) to his later work that combined a focus not only on North America/NAFTA but global institutions and the middle power role. Did his perspective change as he expanded his focus beyond North America? Did the balance shift between his emphasis on structural impediments and significant forms of agency? How did his view of US hegemony play out in his works? Did his optimism/pessimism about Canada's perennial question vary with the political leadership available in Canada and/or global conditions?

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Laura Macdonald (Carleton University) : When Will the Fiesta Start? Mexico-Canada Relations in a New North America
Abstract: One of Stephen Clarkson’s most important contributions was his analysis of the effects of NAFTA on Mexico, and to analyse the ways in which the United States was able to coops, coerce, and cajole its NAFTA allies to promote its own national interests. He lamented the inability of Canadian and Mexican leaders to develop stronger ties to make North America a more equitable region. In this paper, based on recent interviews and statistical analysis, I expand and update Clarkson’s analysis.

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Michele Rioux (Université du Québec à Montréal) : Globalization at Bay? Can The Neoliberal Trade Agenda Be Vanquished? New Challenges for Canada and North America
Abstract: North America has been an experiment in a trade and integration model that had many significant impacts in the region and elsewhere because of its normative and structural influences. The model is facing new challenges has it faces its own limits with deeper integration and the pivot to Asia as well as opposition to reinvent it through the TPP and CETA. Canada has another problem to face since its productivity lags behind and because its economy is not very innovative nor integrated into global value chains as that of the US. Canada needs to rethink its industry policy and trade to move towards more an innovative and progressive agenda. Stephen Clarkson’s contribution to political economy of regionalism and globalization was enormous and this communication draws on principles that oriented his work in a way that we hope will celebrate his legacy.

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Daniel Drache (York University) : The Clarkson Gaze : Sovereignty, Trade Governance And Despair
Abstract: Canada and Europe are caught in the crossfire of the many events roiling the global economy. As the UK political elite gears up to negotiate total British withdrawal from the EU and the customs union -the so-called ‘hard’ Brexit – -- the Canada EU trade deal and the EU/ US trade agreement are highly controversial because the future of trade multilateralism is directly front and center on these three agendas.Brexit, CETA, TTIP and TPP are all interconnected projects that focus the mind because of the commercial, employment and strategic investment needs of governments and the anxieties citizens have about their impacts on employment, the environment and growing inequality. Stephen’s focus on the deepening tension between sovereignty and trade governance is part of long-term structural change that are implicit in third-generation trade agreements, much more about the nontrade issues than tariff reduction and market access. This paper will explore the tension between the Clarkson gaze, sovereignty and despair.

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