Abigail "Abbie" B. Bakan (born 1954) is a Canadian academic.

Academic career

Bakan was chair of the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Social Justice Education at the

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT) is Canada's only all-graduate institute of teaching, learning and research, located in Toronto, Ontario. It is located directly above the St. George subway sta ...

of the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

from 2013 to 2018 and after the end of her term remains a professor in the department. Her research focuses on employment equity,

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

theory and "anti-oppression politics". From 1998 to 2013, she was

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of Political Studies at Queen's University, Kingston,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada after being an associate and then assistant professor at the university from 1985 until 1998. From 2011 to 2013 she served as Head of the Department of Gender Studies at Queen's. Bakan was educated at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

Views on Israel/Palestine

In a protest held in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

on July 29, 2006, Bakan criticized the government of Prime Minister

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

for supporting "Israel's illegal action against the Lebanese and Palestinian people." In a debate held at

on May 11, 2009, Bakan and

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

professor Alan Sears spoke in support of a boycott of Israeli academic institutions.The Middle-East debate rages on at York
by Scott McLean, Excalibur Web edition, York University, May 13, 2009.

Books

Bakan has written and edited several books including: * ''Negotiating Citizenship: Migrant Women in Canada and the Global System'', co-authored with Daiva Stasiulis,

University of Toronto Press The University of Toronto Press is a Canadian university press founded in 1901. Although it was founded in 1901, the press did not actually publish any books until 1911. The press originally printed only examination books and the university calen ...

, 2005. * ''Critical Political Studies: Debates and Dialogues from the Left'', co-edited with Eleanor MacDonald, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2003, * ''Not One of the Family: Foreign Domestic Workers in Canada'', co-edited with Daiva Stasiulis, University of Toronto Press, 1997, * ''Imperial Power and Regional Trade: The Caribbean Basin Initiative'', co-edited with David Cox and

Colin Leys Colin Temple Leys (born April 8, 1931) is a British political economist who is emeritus professor of political studies at Queen's University, Canada, and an honorary research professor at Goldsmiths, University of London. From 1956 to 1960 he t ...

Wilfrid Laurier University Press Wilfrid Laurier University Press, based in Waterloo, Ontario, is a publisher of scholarly writing and is part of Wilfrid Laurier University. The fourth-largest university press in Canada, WLUP publishes work in a variety of disciplines in the hum ...

, 1993, * ''Ideology and Class Conflict in Jamaica: The Politics of Rebellion'', McGill-Queen's University Press, 1990,

Family

Bakan is the daughter of

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

and academic David Bakan and

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

and academic Mildred Bakan. She is the cousin of law professor

Joel Bakan Joel Conrad Bakan (born 1959) is an American-Canadian writer, jazz musician, filmmaker, and professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia. Born in Lansing, Michigan, and raised for most of his childhood in ...

and

ethnomusicologist Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

Michael Bakan Michael Bakan is a professor of ethnomusicology at Florida State University and director of the Balinese gamelan ensemble ''Sekaa Gong Hanuman Agung'' ("Gamelan Club of the Great Hanuman"). He wrote ''Music of Death and New Creation: Experiences in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakan, Abbie 1954 births Living people Canadian political writers Queen's University at Kingston faculty University of Toronto faculty Canadian political scientists Women political scientists Marxist writers