S. Laurel Weldon is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
and
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
political scientist
Political science is the science, scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of politics, political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated c ...
, currently a Distinguished Professor of Political Science at
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...
. She is a
democratic and
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
theorist, known for studies of the cross-national evolution of
women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
, policies on the prevention of
violence against women
Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed against women or girls, usually by men or boys. Such violence is often consi ...
, and the
inclusion of women in political decision-making. Weldon's work has been noted for contributing to both substantive
political theory
Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, l ...
and
empirical methods
Empirical research is research using empirical evidence. It is also a way of gaining knowledge by means of direct and indirect observation or experience. Empiricism values some research more than other kinds. Empirical evidence (the record of o ...
.
Education
Weldon's mother, Sirje Weldon, was the Atlantic regional director for the Canadian Bankers Association, and her father, K. Laurence Weldon, was a professor of
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
and
statistics
Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...
at Simon Fraser University.
Weldon attended Simon Fraser University, graduating in 1991 with a BA in political science and sociology and a minor in philosophy. She then completed an MA in political science at the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...
in 1992, and a PhD in political science at the
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...
in 1999, where she was advised by
Iris Marion Young
Iris Marion Young (2 January 1949 – 1 August 2006) was an American political theorist and socialist feminist who focused on the nature of justice and social difference. She served as Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago an ...
.
Career
After graduating with a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh, Weldon moved to
Purdue University
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
in 1999. She soon published the 2002 book ''Protest, Policy and the Problem of Violence Against Women'', as well as a series of widely cited cross-national studies on violence against women and women's political participation.
In 2011, Weldon published the book ''When Protest Makes Policy: How Social Movements Represent Disadvantaged Groups'', which studied the role of
social movement
A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and may ...
s in democracy through several case studies on American social movements. This work provided evidence that social movements can be an effective means for systematically
disadvantaged
The "disadvantaged" is a generic term for individuals or groups of people who:
* Face special problems such as physical or mental disability
* Lack money or economic supportKingdom of Nepal: Economic and Social Inclusion of the Disadvantaged Poo ...
groups to promote their collective aims, and that in some cases strong social movements can provide more effective safeguards against negative political outcomes than the official inclusion of group members in formal institutions like
legislature
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...
s.
The book won the
American Political Science Association
The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, ...
's 2012
Victoria Schuck Award
The Victoria Schuck Award is an annual prize granted by the American Political Science Association to the author of the best book published in the previous year on the topic of women and politics. The award is named in honor of the political scie ...
for the best book published on women and politics.
In 2013, Weldon was a co-editor of the first ''Oxford Handbook on Politics and Gender''.
Weldon's third book was coauthored with
Mala Htun
Mala Htun is an American political scientist, currently a professor of political science at the University of New Mexico. Htun studies comparative politics, particularly women's rights and the politics of race and ethnicity with a focus on Latin ...
and published in 2018; in ''The Logics of Gender Justice: State Action on Women’s Rights Around the World'', Weldon and Htun studied the evolution of women's rights issues such as family law, abortion, paid parental leave, and contraception from 1975 to 2005.
Weldon and Htun received the Human Rights Best Book Award for 2019 from the
International Studies Association
The International Studies Association (ISA) is a US-based professional association for scholars and practitioners in the field of international studies. Founded in 1959, ISA has been headquartered at the University of Connecticut in Storrs since ...
.
Weldon has been a consultant for international organisations including the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
and the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
. She has also been a lead reviewer for selective political science journals: she is part of the 2020-2024 editorial leadership of the
American Political Science Review
The ''American Political Science Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all areas of political science. It is an official journal of the American Political Science Association and is published on their behalf by Cambridg ...
,
and was a founding co-editor of the
Western Political Science Association
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
* Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that i ...
journal ''Politics, Groups, and Identities''.
Weldon's work has been noted for contributing to diverse subfields, particularly for developing political theory while also contributing new ideas in how to study political phenomena with rigorous empirical methods. In 2018, Weldon moved to Simon Fraser University from Purdue University, where she had been a Distinguished Professor and the Director of the Purdue Policy Research Institution.
In 2020, Weldon was inducted in the
Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...
.
Books
* ''Protest, Policy and the Problem of Violence Against Women'' (2002)
* ''When Protest Makes Policy: How Social Movements Represent Disadvantaged Groups'' (2011)
* ''The Logics of Gender Justice: State Action on Women’s Rights Around the World'', with Mala Htun (2018)
Awards
*Victoria Schuck Award, American Political Science Association (2012)
*Human Rights Best Book Award, International Studies Association (2019)
*Fellow, Royal Society of Canada (2020)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weldon, S. Laurel
Living people
Date of birth missing (living people)
Canadian women academics
Simon Fraser University faculty
Simon Fraser University alumni
University of Pittsburgh alumni
University of British Columbia alumni
American women political scientists
American political scientists
Canadian political scientists
Year of birth missing (living people)
American women academics
21st-century American women