Welcome. I am a professor in political science and long-standing member of the Athabasca University faculty becoming a member of staff in 1981. I have overseen much of the development of the political science curriculum. I have written several undergraduate courses and supervised the development of several others. In 2007 our political science degree program was officially launched and we now have students graduating in political science. I also teach a graduate course, Political Science 580 (available as an undergraduate course, POLI 480) on "The Politics of Cyberspace," a course that reflects my latest research interest.
My research interests have evolved over the years. In recent years I have blended my interests in political theory and political economy into an ongoing research project on the impact of new information and communication technologies on politics and governance, domestically and globally. In terms of the latter I am particularly interested in the use of the Internet to mobilize people and social movements, secular and religious, from around the world in opposition to neoliberal corporate globalization. This work includes becoming part of an international group of scholars studying the World Social Forum, and similar regional, national, and local forums which represent meetings (ranging upwards to 150,000 participants) of those in civil society wishing to find democratic alternatives to the present global order. To this I add an interest in the open source software movement and the global fight over copyright.
R = refereed publication
(2011) Co-authored with Elizabeth Smythe "(In)Fertile Ground? Social Forum Activism in its Regional and Local Dimension," in Handbook on World Social Forum Activism, edited by Jackie Smith, Scott Byrd, Ellen Reese, and Elizabeth Smythe. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers. R
(2011) "The Road to the World Social Forum: The Case of the Dalit Movement," in Handbook on World Social Forum Activism, edited by Jackie Smith, Scott Byrd, Ellen Reese, and Elizabeth Smythe. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers. R
Co-authored with Peter John Chen (2011) "Digital Media in the 2008 Canadian Election," Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 8:4, 399-417 R
Co-authored with Peter Chen (2010). "Adoption and Use of Digital Media in Election Campaigns: Australia, Canada and New Zealand Compared" Public Communication Review, Vol 1, pp. 3-26. R
Co-authored with Peter John Chen (2010) "Campaigning and Digital Media in Alberta: Emerging Practices and Democratic Outcomes?" Canadian Political Science Review, Vol 4, No 2-3, 36-55 R
Co-authored with Elizabeth Smythe (2010) "(In)Fertile Ground? Social Forum Activism in its Regional and Local Dimension" Journal of World-Systems Research Volume XVI, Number 1, 2010pp. 6-29 R
Co-authored with Elizabeth Smythe (2009) OPEN SPACES, OPEN SOURCES The World Social Forum and international communication rights in a digital world Information, Communication & Society, 12: 6, 793 – 816. R
(2008) "Going Global – The Transnational Politics of the Dalit Movement" (2008) (Globalizations, Volume 5, Issue 1, pp. 13-33. R
(2007) Book: Global Democracy and the World Social Forums Boulder: Paradigm Press. Authors: Jackie Smith, Marina Karides, Marc Becker, Dorval Brunelle, Christopher Chase-Dunn, Donatella Della Porta, Rosalba Icaza Garza, Jeffrey S. Juris, Lorenzo Mosca, Ellen Reese, Peter (Jay) Smith, Rolando Vaquez
(2007) "E-Democracy and Local Government – Dashed Expectations," in Ari-Veikko Anttiroiko and Matti Mälkiä, eds., Encyclopedia of Digital Government, Vol. II, E-H. Hershey: Idea Group Reference. 2007. Pp. 448-454. R
Co-authored with Elizabeth Smythe (2006) "Legitimacy, Transparency, and Information Technology: The World Trade Organization in an Era of Contentious Trade Politics Politics" in Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations. Vol. 12, No. 1, January-March 2006. Pp. 31-55. R
Co-authored with Elizabeth Smythe "Citizenship and New Technologies," Invited publication, externally reviewed. Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology. Ed. Mehdi Khosrow-Pour. Idea Group Publishing: Philadelphia. 2005 Pp.6 a R
"New Information Technologies and Empowerment – The Implications for Politics and Governance," in E. Lynn Oliver and Larry Sanders, eds., E-Government Reconsidered: Renewal of Governance for the Knowledge Age. Canadian Plains Research Centre: Regina, 2004. pp. 135-151.
Co-author with Elizabeth Smythe (2004) "Globalization, Citizenship and New Information Technologies: From the MAI to Seattle," in Mattie Malkia, Ari-Veikko Anttiroiko, and Reijo Savolainen, eds., eTransformation in Governance: New Directions in Government and Politics. Idea Group Publishing: Philadelphia, 2004. Pp. 272-307.
(2004) "The Impact of Globalization on Citizenship: Decline or Renaissance?" reprinted in Pierre Boyer, Linda Cardinal, and David Heaton, eds., From Subjects to Citizens: A Hundred Years of Citizenship in Australia and Canada. University of Ottawa Press: Ottawa, 2004. pp. 301-327. R
Co-authored with Elizabeth Smythe (2003) "This is What Democracy Looks Like? Globalization, New Information Technology and the Trade Policy Process: Some Comparative Observations," Perspectives on Global Development and Technology, Vol. 2, No. 3 2003, pp. 179-215. R
Co-authored with Elizabeth Smythe (2003) "NGOs, Technology and the Changing Face of Trade Politics," in Kathy Brock, ed., Delicate Dances: Public Policy and the Nonprofit Sector, McGill-Queen's University Press: Montreal, 2003, pp. 297-341.
Co-authore with Elizabeth Smythe (2002) "New Technologies and Networks of Resistance," in Evan Potter, ed., Cyber-Diplomacy, McGill-Queen's University Press: Montreal, 2002, pp. 48-83.
(2003) "Social Activism and the Internet," Review of 3 books, Labour/Le Travail, Spring 2003, 265-269.
(2002) "Modern Political Ideologies," in Janine Brodie, ed., Critical Concepts: An Introduction to Politics 2nd edition. Toronto: Prentice-Hall, 2002. 37-52.
Co-authored with Elizabeth A. Smythe, (2001) "Globalization, Citizenship and Technology: The MAI Meets the Internet." Originally published in Canadian Foreign Policy and republished in Frank Webster, ed. Culture and Politics in the Information Age: A New Politics? London: Routledge, 2001, 183-207 R
(2001) "Experiments in Governance - From Social Credit to the Klein Revolution," in Michael Howlett and Keith Brownsey, The Provincial State: Politics in Canada's Provinces and Territories, 2nd edition, Peterborough, Ont, 2001. 277-309
(2001)"The Impact of Globalization on Citizenship: Renaissance or Decline?" Journal of Canadian Studies 36:1 Spring 2001, 116-141. R
"Le Deseveu Postmoderne Du Republicanisme" Politique et Societes 20:1 (2001) 69-97 R
Updated April 28 2015 by Student & Academic Services
AU, CANADA'S OPEN UNIVERSITY, is an internationally recognized leader in online and distance learning.