Eleyan Sawafta, MA, MA, BSc

Area of Study / Keywords

Political Science Peace & Conflict Studies Political Planning & Development Civil Engineering

About

Eleyan Sawafta is a Ph.D. student and a graduate research assistant who holds a master's degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of North Carolina. He also has an MA in Political Planning and Development from An-Najah National University in Palestine, and a BA in Engineering from the same university. Currently, Sawafta is Canada's highly qualified personnel (HQP), working on a project funded by the Government of Canada through the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF). The project has a budget of $98.6M and focuses on citizenship and political participation. This project will be the first to concentrate on the Digital Platform Modernization and Transformation (DPMT) project, which is being developed at IRCC since 2021. DPMT will be a multi-million dollar initiative that is expected to be completed in 2026 and will result in the creation of a new digital platform for the immigration department. This platform will also be used by other agencies involved in its implementation, as well as non-governmental organizations funded by the government. 

The project will analyze the genesis of DPMT, its development process, and real-time challenges associated with deploying such a massive technological change in an immigration department. It will combine migration studies, public administration, technology studies, and infrastructure studies to achieve this. Sawafta's primary research interests involve analyzing the relationship between development and conflict through political economy and public policy. He has provided commentary on various topics such as democracy, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, environmental justice, and development through various media and events in the Middle East, Canada, and the US.

Research

Paper (in-person conference): “It Bleeds, and It Desperately Needs: The Future of Peace by Changing the Discourse and Practice” In Peace and Justice Studies Association (Annual 2023 conference). September 16th, 2023. https://www.peacejusticestudies.org/conference/2023-conference-schedule/ 

Paper: “Development and Settler-Colonialism: Perpetuating Neo-colonial Domination and Apartheid” In Omran journal. Qatar. August 2023. https://omran.dohainstitute.org/en/045/pages/art04.aspx 

Book review: “Pathways of Reconciliation: Indigenous and Settler Approach to Implementing the TRC Calls to Action” In the Journal of Transdisciplinary Peace Praxis (JTPP). The UK. January 2023. https://jtpp.uk/archive/

Paper (in-person conference): “How Modern Consumer Capitalism Become a New Type of Colonialism in the Conflict Zones: Palestinian Crony Capitalism as a Case Study” In Peace and Justice Studies Association (Annual 2022 conference). October 13th, 2022. https://bit.ly/3P2EA2N