Dr. Rita Kaur Dhamoon

There are two opportunities to see Dr. Dhamoon.

Everyone is welcome.

Both events are free and accessible.

Dr. Dhamoon's research is relevant for current debates in Canadian postcolonial, anti-racist, feminist, human rights and peace & conflict studies. 

Contesting Multiculturalism & Security: Challenges & Alternatives

Monday, January 31, 7:00 to 9:00 pm, 2M70 at UW

In the post September 11, 2001 context, critics claim that multicultural policies undermine security because they breed “home-grown terrorists”.  

Defenders of multiculturalism argue that such policies promote toleration and can counter security concerns.

Dr. Dhamoon suggests that this characterization of the debate mischaracterizes the history of multicultural and security discourses, and masks over exclusionary forms of nation-building and race-making.  It is argued that multiculturalism is a mechanism of security.

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Identity/Difference Politics through the Lens of Intersectionality

Tuesday, February 1, 1:30 to 3:00 pm, 2M70 at UW 

Identity/difference politics has tended to be framed in terms of culture and/or multiculturalism, with a focus on particular nonwhite groups. 

This obscures a richer understanding of identity/difference politics. 

Drawing on feminist frameworks, Dr. Dhamoon considers an alternative lens: intersectionality, which expands and complicates an understanding of the issue.  It can be an indispensable tool.

Dr. Rita Kaur Dhamoon is in the Department of Philosophy & Political Science at the University of the Fraser Valley.  Her research interests include: identity/difference politics, gender and feminism, intersectionality, critiques of ‘culture’ and multiculturalism, anti-racism and critical race theory, and citizenship and democratic theory. 

She is author of Identity/Difference Politics: how difference is produced and why it matters, and journal articles, as well as several book chapters. 

These events are being hosted by the UW's Department of Sociology and co-sponsored by the Department of Politics and the Department of Women's & Gender Studies.