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Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University

@rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social

McGill University Research Group on Constitutional Studies, a unit of the Yan P. Lin Centre for the Study of Freedom & Global Orders in the Ancient & Modern Worlds

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Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 2d ago

www.liberalism.org/p/liberal-to... New from RGCS PhD student @shalmarr.bsky.social Shal Marriott at @liberalism.org writing about Judith Shklar (McGill BA '49 MA '50), namesake of RGCS' Shklar Reading Room.

Liberal Toleration and Ordinary Vices

Hypocrisy, snobbery, betrayal, and misanthropy are everywhere. Here’s what to do about it.

liberalism.org

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 2d ago

Applications for the 2026-27 RGCS Charles Taylor Student Fellowships at McGill are now open! www.mcgill.ca/rgcs/students

Charles Taylor Student Fellowship

CFA 2026-27 RGCS Charles Taylor Student Fellowship McGill's Research Group on Constitutional Studies brings together the study of political theory, political and legal philosophy, constitutional and p...

mcgill.ca

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 2w ago

Major new article from RGCS PhD student @samantha_puzzi Samantha Puzzi, available First View in @poppublicsphere.bsky.social , one of the leading journals in the discipline: "The Right to the Campus: Student Occupations, the University, and the Right to the City" www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

"The Right to the Campus: Student Occupations, the University, and the Right to the City"

Abstract
While the 2024 Gaza solidarity encampments and campus occupations before them have been the objects of significant debate among academics and broader public audiences, the spatialized and radical democratic dimensions of these protests remain undertheorized. This article argues that turning to Henri Lefebvre provides valuable tools for better understanding campus occupations and answering the questions that universities face today. Grounded in Lefebvre’s comments about students, knowledge production, and campus life following May 1968, I argue that the university is a key site for demanding, clarifying, and expanding the “right to the city.” Extending Lefebvre’s analysis through a discussion of the spatial production activities of contemporary elite North American universities, I propose a novel “right to the campus” defined by radical democratization of university governance and use-driven spatial design. Finally, I draw lessons from the 1968 Columbia University occupations before applying the right to the campus to analyze the successes and disappointments of the more recent wave of encampments. Viewed through this framework, campus occupations posit control over university “property” as a mechanism for challenging the undemocratic management and market logic characterizing both campus spaces and university activities off campus.

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 4w ago

New from RGCS postdoc @alexisbibeau.bsky.social Alexis Bibeau-Gagnon, Alexandre Pelletier, Hubert Cadieux, and Yannick Dufresne in @cjps-rcsp.bsky.social "Who Endorses Environmental Activism? Understanding Public Tolerance for Radical Environmental Action in Canada" doi.org/10.1017/S000...

Abstract
State inaction and the escalating threat of climate change have led groups within the environmental movement to adopt more radical political tactics such as sabotage, vandalism and road blockades. How do citizens view such radical actions, and what determines their tolerance for them? Using survey data measuring environmental preoccupation, attribution of responsibility for climate change and attitudes toward thirteen contestation methods, this article maps the structure of public attitudes toward radical environmental activism. The results are threefold. First, tolerance has a clear threshold: citizens tolerate peaceful actions, are ambivalent toward disruptive tactics, and reject destructive and violent ones. Second, environmental preoccupation increases tolerance for nonviolent disruption but not for destructive or violent methods. Third, tolerance for radical tactics depends on whether respondents blame governments, corporations, or individuals for climate change. The article shows how responsibility attribution shapes legitimacy judgments about activism and underscores the limits of disruptive contestation in democracies.

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 4w ago

Samuel Bagg , @samuel-bagg.bsky.social RGCS postdoc 2017-19, has been promoted to the rank of tenured Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of South Carolina. Congratulations, Professor! Learn about his research here: www.samuelbagg.com

Samuel Bagg

samuelbagg.com

John-Erik Hansson @johnerik-h.bsky.social · last mo.

Si jamais vous avez du temps et de l'envie, je propose un cours sur l'histoire globale de l'anarchisme à l'Université Ouverte à @upcite.bsky.social à partir de la mi-janvier! Inscriptions à partir du 8 juillet! u-paris.fr/universite-o...

Histoire Globale de l’Anarchisme : Mouvements, Pratiques, Circulations (1870-Présent) | Université Ouverte

u-paris.fr

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · last mo.

New from RGCS faculty member @why-winter.bsky.social Yves Winter in Comparative Studies in Society and History "Imperial Nostalgia as Patrimony: Shipwrecks and Treasures in the Colonial Museum" doi.org/10.1017/S001... (abstract in alt text) 1/2

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · last mo.

One more day for free download for former RGCS postdoc Timothy Waligore's book:

Tim Waligore@waligore.bsky.social · last mo.

Last chance to download for free my book, "Reparations and Redress for Historical Injustice," published by Cambridge University Press! It's free until June 24. www.cambridge.org/core/element...

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · last mo.

Cressida Heyes, FRSC, MA McGill Political Science 1993, Ph.D. McGill Philosophy 1997, Henry Marshall Tory Chair at the University of Alberta, has been awarded the 2026–2027 Edinburgh Fellowship from the American Philosophical Association. www.apaonline.org/news/729463/...

APA announces Spring 2026 prize winners - American Philosophical Association

apaonline.org

Tim Waligore @waligore.bsky.social · 2mo ago

My book, "Reparations and Redress for Historical Injustice," has been published by Cambridge University Press! It is free for download until June 24. www.cambridge.org/core/element...

Reparations and Redress for Historical Injustice

Cambridge Core - Global History - Reparations and Redress for Historical Injustice

cambridge.org

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · last mo.

This week in Milan, June 23-24 The annual Alternate Routes conference in critical social research Theme: “Capitalism, Crisis, and Global Reordering” RGCS Charles Taylor Student Fellowship presenters: Madison Albert, BA ’26 Mathis Lehoux, MA2 Florence Manlapas, MA2 Solomon Schafer, MA ‘26

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 2mo ago

New book: _Disciplinary Divides in the Study of Law and Politics_, University of Toronto Press coedited by @emmettmacfarlane.com and RGCS alum @katepuddister.bsky.social PhD '15 See full contents here: utppublishing.com/doi/book/10....

Disciplinary Divides in the Study of Law and Politics - University of Toronto Press

This book studies the "disciplinary divides" between law and political science, including conceptual, methodological, and normative differences in how each field approaches policy, institutions, and legal phenomena.

utppublishing.com

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 2mo ago

www.mcgill.ca/rgcs/shklar-...

Judith Nisse Shklar (BA '49 MA '50) reading room

“I am a bookworm.” Judith Shklar, “A Life of Learning” The Shklar Room, located in Ferrier 428B at the center of RGCS' academic space, houses a collection of nearly 1000 volumes in political theory a...

mcgill.ca

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 2mo ago

New book from former RGCS postdoc Tim Waligore (2011-13), now Associate Professor of Political Science at Pace University: Reparations and Redress for Historical Injustice, CUP This book is free to read online for two weeks from today's release, until June 24: www.cambridge.org/core/element...

Reparations and Redress for Historical Injustice

Cambridge Core - Global History - Reparations and Redress for Historical Injustice

cambridge.org

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Former RGCS Postdoc William Tilleczek (2023-25), now a postdoc at U de M, has been appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and Global Development Studies at St. Mary's University beginning in the fall. Congratulations, Professor!

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 2mo ago

www.mcgill.ca/arts/article...

A Word From Madison Albert, Spring 2026 Arts Valedictorian

Throughout my time at McGill—with the help of generous mentors, professors, friends, and family, and rather haphazardly—I have nurtured an ethic of care toward the body. As we move forward in the worl...

mcgill.ca

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 2mo ago

www.mcgill.ca/arts/article...

A Word From David Oh, Spring 2026 Arts Valedictorian

I always plan four years in advance. When I first walked up Rue University to reach Douglas Hall, I was merely following the plan that I had made four years prior as a 14-year-old entering high school...

mcgill.ca

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 2mo ago

New from RGCS faculty member Jacob Levy at Liberty Fund : a reflection on the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence. "When a doctrine becomes destructive of these ends." www.libertyfund.org/250th/when-a...

When a Doctrine Becomes Destructive of These Ends

libertyfund.org

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Asha Rangappa @asharangappa.bsky.social continues to think through problems she raised in her RGCS Lecture: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ81...

RGCS Lecture: Asha Rangappa (Yale), "Presidential Paradox," January 26 2023

YouTube video by Yan P. Lin Centre, McGill University

youtube.com

Asha Rangappa@asharangappa.bsky.social · 2mo ago

My Go Big or Go Home thoughts for this Saturday: I make the case for why we should consider amending the Constitution to create a fourth branch open.substack.com/pub/asharang...

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 2mo ago

RGCS alum Mary Jo MacDonald, BA '17, has been appointed Assistant Professor of Political Science at Mount Allison University! Professor MacDonald's research centers on early modern women’s political writings. www.maryjomacdonald.com

Mary Jo MacDonald | Political Theory

Mary Jo MacDonald is a political theorist, working primarily in the history of political thought

maryjomacdonald.com

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 2mo ago

RGCS Charles Taylor Student Fellows David Oh and Madison Albert are interviewed as part of this profile of the ten Valedictorians University-wide. reporter.mcgill.ca/mcgills-vale...

reporter.mcgill.ca

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 2mo ago

www.politics.utoronto.ca/news/memoria... Ran Hirschl, one of Canada's leading scholars of constitutionalism, has passed away.

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 2mo ago

New from former RGCS postdoc Michael Da Silva, now Lecturer at Southampton Law School, in the Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy: "The epistemic condition on political authority" www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

The epistemic condition on political authority

A claimed epistemic condition on legitimate authority appears in numerous academic debates. Yet the condition admits multiple specifications and is asked to serve numerous roles in each debate. Wor...

tandfonline.com

Teresa M. Bejan @tmbejan.bsky.social · 3mo ago

It was a dream come true to contribute to the latest episode of In Our Time, on the Levellers, with Clare Jackson and Ted Vallance. Have a listen!

Simon Tillotson@simontillotson.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Coming up at 9 in the UK and around the globe on BBC.com we have the so-called Levellers who, back in the 17th century, called for more equal rights and helped start a long tradition of dissent www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 3mo ago

RGCS Charles Taylor Student Fellow Tim Gulliver has been selected for a Supreme Court of Canada clerkship! www.mcgill.ca/law/article/...

Seven for the Supreme Court of Canada

Maxwell Brodie Clerk for The Honourable Mahmud Jamal I grew up in Toronto and studied law at the University of Edinburgh. I then came to McGill’s Faculty as an advanced standing student. At McGill, I ...

mcgill.ca

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 3mo ago

RGCS faculty member Yann Allard-Tremblay's book _Disjunctures: Indigenous Redirections in Political Theory_ (Oxford) has been shortlisted for the Canadian Political Science Association's CB Macpherson Prize for the best book in political theory.

Citation:

Disjunctures starts from the premise that a way of living and sharing the land must be found. Allard-Tremblay launches that journey by following the irreconcilable differences between
Indigenous and Euro-modern political thought and traditions. These disjunctures, AllardTremblay argues, represent distinct paths to be followed in response to the zones of friction between traditions. Through its clear and demanding argument, Disjunctures asks its readers to confront those differences, and makes a compelling case for redirecting political theories of reconciliation through Indigenous systems and decolonization.

Disjunctures part du principe qu’il faut trouver une manière de vivre et de partager la terre. L’auteur entame ce parcours en explorant les divergences irréconciliables entre la pensée
politique et les traditions autochtones et euro-modernes. Selon lui, ces disjonctions représentent des voies distinctes à suivre en réponse aux zones de friction entre ces traditions. D’une grande clarté et d’une rigueur exemplaire, cet ouvrage invite les lecteurs à se confronter à ces différences et présente des arguments convaincants en faveur d’une réorientation des théories politiques de la réconciliation par le biais des systèmes autochtones et de la décolonisation.

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 3mo ago

RGCS Student Writing Prize is awarded annually to an Arts undergraduate for the best piece of substantial academic writing on the values, institutions, and principles of a free society. This year's award goes to Madison Albert '26, "Wages for Housework and Family Abolitionism: An Unhappy Marriage?"

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 3mo ago

new from alum Emma Planinc, MA '12, now Assistant Professor of Liberal Arts and Political Science, University of Notre Dame, and recent RGCS Lecturer: "Wells and Human Rights," in Duncan Bell & Sarah Cole, eds, The Oxford Handbook of H. G. Wells, OUP 2026 academic.oup.com/edited-volum...

Wells and Human Rights

Abstract. In 1940, H. G. Wells wrote two letters to the London Times, very soon after to become his important work, The Rights of Man, Or What Are We Fight

academic.oup.com

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 3mo ago

New article from RGCS PhD student Samantha Puzzi (Political Science), in Memory Studies "Monumental Empowerment: The vandalism of public mnemonic objects" journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

"Monumental Empowerment: The vandalism of public mnemonic objects"

Abstract
This article develops a novel approach for defending the vandalism of ‘tainted’ monuments by appealing to democratic process. Through the framework of symbolic power, and with a focus on deliberative processes of ‘collective authorization’, the article makes three central claims. First, I argue that public mnemonic objects that are improperly authorized result in the symbolic powerlessness of those excluded. Second, I argue that this powerlessness survives when collectives fail to re-authorize their mnemonic objects. As such, I redefine ‘tainted’ commemorations with reference to procedure and not merely problematic content. Third, I defend the vandalism of tainted commemorations as assertions of symbolic empowerment, or full participation in symbolic design, for groups facing historical and ongoing marginalization. Together, these arguments explore how the failure of narrow and/or top-down processes of monument authorization and their objectification in the memory landscape redirect unfulfilled democratic participation to the physical, built realm.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/17506980261447403

Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Nominations by present and past RGCS Taylor Fellows supported the conferral of McGill's Dean of Students Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Academic Advising to RGCS coordinator Jacob Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social .