Laurier faculty member at the BSIA elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada

The BSIA congratulates Rianne Mahon, a member of Laurier’s Department of Political Science and the Balsillie School of International Affairs, for being elected to the Royal Society of Canada (RSC). Dr. Mahon will be formally inducted into the prestigious society at a ceremony in Ottawa on Nov. 22, 2019. 

From the Wilfrid Laurier University press release:

Mahon, who has been elected to the RSC’s Academy of Social Science, completed her PhD in political science in 1977 and has been with Laurier and the Balsillie School since 2010. Over the course of her career, she has made contributions in a range of areas, including political economy, social policy, union strategies, gender studies and international governance. Her long list of publications spans geography, sociology and history as well as political science. She was also one of the founding editors of Studies in Political Economy, a peer-reviewed journal now in its 30th year of publication.

One of the areas in which she has made significant contributions is in comparative childcare politics and policy. Beginning in the late 1990s, her transdisciplinary examination of childcare and parental leave as social policy was groundbreaking and award-winning. She is also considered a pioneer of scholarly research on the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD), particularly on the gendering of the OECD and other international organizations. Her work has opened a new field of research on the diverse ways international organizations have incorporated ideas about gender equality and women’s empowerment.

“I am of course delighted to be recognized for my scholarly achievements, but I am also looking forward to giving back by collaborating with my peers at the Royal Society and continuing to push for change,” said Mahon. “We are still a long way from having the kind of universal childcare we need, with the exception of the province of Quebec. I also feel strongly that it is important to make people aware of the importance of rights gained for women, Indigenous peoples and others through the United Nations as these achievements come under attack by right-wing populist governments.”

Read the full press release here.