Dominique Clement, BA(H), MA, PhD, Royal Society of Canada (CNSAS)

Area of Study / Keywords

Human rights nonprofit sector social movements law public policy national security gender immigration labour

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About

“Dr. Clément is an internationally recognized authority and Canada’s leading expert on the history of social movements and human rights.”—Royal Society of Canada, 2018.

I am an historical sociologist who specializes in the study of human rights law, social movements, and the nonprofit sector. Among other contributions, I have testified before the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights; served as an expert witness for a criminal trial; collaborated with NGOs to advocate for reforms to human rights law; play a key role in the initial development of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights; worked to foster transparency in government finances; assisted immigrant-serving agencies in advocating for more funding; supported training programs to support 2SLGBTQIA+ newcomers; and collaborated with human rights commissions to produce educational programming.

I am currently working on variety of projects that include topics such as human rights law and activism; government funding for the nonprofit sector; and human rights education. Past projects include studies on national security policies and counterterrorism; settlement and integration of immigrants; gender history and discrimination in the workplace; and freedom of information policy. I pioneered some of the first historical-sociological studies on human rights in Canada. My work challenges dominant (celebratory) narratives around human rights. It demonstrates how a rights framework often presumes legal solutions to systemic social problems. And the inadequacy of law in addressing issues such as poverty or climate change. This research has led to invitations to publish in American, Australian, British, Chinese, Canadian, and Japanese journals as well as serving as a visiting professor in Australia, Belgium, China, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

Another major project was leading a national research team to collect data on government funding for the nonprofit sector. This resulted in, among other deliverables, a unique public use online database to track trends in government funding for non-governmental organizations since the 1960s.

My books include studies on the history of feminist activism in Canada, human rights law and activism, and the sociology of human rights. The link below to the presentations page includes videos of recent presentations arising from my research. I also publish in broader-audience venues such as The Conversation, Literary Review of Canada, PlanCanada, and ActiveHistory.

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Teaching

SOC 102/203: Social Problems
SOC 260: Inequality and Social Stratification
SOC 343: Social Movements
SOC 496: Human Rights in International Perspective
SOC 519: Comparative and Historical Methods in Sociological Research
SOC533 Research Design
SOC 549: Social Movements 
SOC696: Human Rights in Theory & Practice

I supervise honour's and graduate students in the following areas (primarily in a Canadian context) - both historical and sociological studies:

• Human rights: movements, law, and politics
• Social movements
• Nonprofit sector
• Anti-discrimination law
• Human rights education
• Gender equality
• National security and emergency planning
• Freedom of Information

SOC 533 - Research Design

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Browse more courses taught by Dominique Clement

Dominique Clément

2014 March;

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Dominique Clément

1999 January;

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