The Institute of Political Economy offers a one-of-a-kind placement opportunity, PECO 5904, in which students gain hands-on experience and apply their academic skillset to the community. Available to all students at the Institute, and a key component of its Work and Labour programs, this unique course links students with the community organizations to engage in research activities under the supervision of professional researchers.

One of the latter is Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood, Senior Researcher at the and alumnus of the Institute of Political Economy.

Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood has been working with the for 7 years, beginning first when he was an IPE student himself. A professor connected him with CCPA’s trade director at the time, who provided Hadrian a placement writing a trade policy report. He describes how his academic training at the Institute prepared him for this role. “What I knew and had to offer was new to him, and he was able to learn from me,” Hadrian said of his placement. “Experts in the field don’t know everything, because they’re human too. As a student, you’re likely spending more time thinking about these issues than many people who work on them, and that can be useful.”

After he graduated, Hadrian applied for a Research Assistant position to work on the CCPA’s Alternative Federal Budget project at the CCPA. Thanks in part to his previous connection with the organization, he got the job; once that contract was over he was offered another, then another, until he was approached to do climate research. The CCPA was in need of an in-house expert in the field, and the CCPA was willing to give him the time to get up to speed.

Hadrian cites research skills he honed at the Institute of Political Economy as allowing him to learn what he needed to transition into a new field: “I went from an area in which I had expertise to one in which I had none, but I knew how to learn, and that allowed me to transition into that role.”

These days, as a Senior Researcher at the CCPA national office, his research focuses on workers in the context of climate change, and what a “just transition” towards an equitable new economy and clean energy production might look like for workers. His research addresses questions such as how people are implicated in climate policy.

Every year, he takes on students from his alma mater, giving IPE students the valuable experiential learning opportunity he had during his graduate degree.

Students are involved at nearly every stage of the report writing process—research, donor meetings and community outreach, literature review, drafting the document and, finally, observing the publication process. They are also invited along to all networking and team and strategy meetings, as well as internal meetings within the CCPA in which they strategize, collaborate, and conduct peer review, getting a rare behind-the-scenes looks at the inner workings of an active NGO.

Depending on the quality and quantity of their contribution—though, as Hadrian notes, IPE students are high caliber—students may even be credited as co-authors on the final report. His goal is to give students the advantageous professional skill and experience he had when he was in their shoes, and create a positive experience for both.

Based on testimonies from IPE students who have worked and learned under his tutelage, this is certainly the case.

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Zaee Deshpande joined the Institute of Political Economy’s Masters cohort in 2018. Coming from an undergraduate degree in Political Science, she joined the Institute with a broad interest in labour. She credits her placement at the CCPA with helping narrow her research interests, and hone key skills she uses regularly in her professional life today.

She joined Hadrian to work on a report exploring whether the emerging policy consensus on just transition is consistent with the principles of social justice and equity more broadly. Hadrian encouraged her to take on as much as possible. Over her placement, she conducted literature reviews, drafted the report, and sat in on calls with external stakeholders, union partners, and funders. She also observed the editing and review stages.

As an alum, Hadrian knew firsthand the demands of coursework at the IPE, and offered flexibility in terms of when and how she completed her placement. In addition to providing firsthand writing and research experience, Hadrian provided valuable coaching on data analysis, a skill with which she wasn’t previously familiar. Zaee was credited as a co-author on the resulting report, “,” published in August 2019.

This publication credit proved an asset in job interviews following graduation, helping her stand out as a candidate. Shortly after graduation, she landed a job at as a Research Associate working on labour and human rights law. “Lancaster actually knew of me because they’d read that report,” Zaee describes.

She recently took on a new position as Program Officer of the , which promotes responsible investment services, research and education, and works with institutional investors to implement responsible investment strategies to promote a sustainable economy. SHARE, too, was familiar with her CCPA report, and skills gained during her placement are directly transferable to her work today.

She highly encourages students to find a placement during their time at the Institute of Political Economy in a field in which they hope to work, and to get involved: look at other work conducted within the organizations, and connect with colleagues doing work similar to theirs.

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Jonah Somers is a recent alumnus of the Institute. When he arrived in 2019, he was interested in the intersections of philosophy, technology, and social issues; the Political Economy MA program was the only of its kind that offered the freedom for him to explore this niche area of interest. His placement at the CCPA gave him the opportunity to delve into environmental policy, a new area of interest, and gain practical skills that have directly translated into his work post-graduation.

During his 4-month placement, Jonah honed his research skills conducting an environmental scan of how other governments approach emissions reduction, and combing over Canadian environmental commitment documents. He also sat in on meetings with key figures in the labour movement.

“It was a really cool opportunity for me, as a second year MA student, to sit in on meetings with important people in the labour movement,” Jonah recalls. He also got to practice packaging dense information for labour groups to put into action.

The capstone of his placement was the publication of “,” a report assessing whether it was feasible that the Greening Government Strategy would achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, as the federal government claimed.

He recommends the Institute’s placement course because it helps students practice their classroom learning and put their critical analysis to work, and realize the marketable skills they have to offer the workforce. “The placement program is rare,” Jonah notes. “In large grad programs, this opportunity just isn’t available.”

Overall, he cites working and learning from Hadrian as the most valuable part of his time at the CCPA—he advises students to take the opportunity pick their supervisors’ brains, and get involved in as many aspects of the organization as possible during their placements.

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For Clay Duncalfe, working with the CCPA was a full-circle moment. “I was familiar with the CCPA going into my MA program and had read their reports and cited their research in my undergrad,” he says. “I always thought the CCPA would be a really interesting place to work.”

Clay worked on a report called “”, which analyzed what a just transition, rooted in labour movement, might look like.

First, he conducted a literature review of how other jurisdictions have implemented just transition policies as they have phased out environmentally harmful industries. After poring through legislative documents from various jurisdictions, he then began writing. He also published two articles with the CCPA’s , and another in collaboration with Hadrian: and .

Although he began his placement out of an office set up for him at the CCPA national headquarters, his placement shifted online when COVID-19 hit. Their project was consequently pushed to the back burner when Clay’s work placement concluded; however, a year later, Hadrian was able to secure external funding to bring Clay back as a part time researcher to complete the report, which was published in April 2021.

Clay’s placement with the CCPA gave him the opportunity to put the theoretical perspectives he gained at IPE into practice—particularly how states, markets, and social movements interact to elicit change. He was also able to put his academic research skills to the test, and see firsthand how those translated to practically-focused, public-facing research work.

Clay is currently working as a National Convener for the —a group of labour and climate-based groups who work together to advocate for worker-focused environmental policy in Canada. Though primarily driven by trade unions, it has several NGO partners, including the CCPA. He learned about the role from Hadrian, who encouraged him to apply, so was a key factor in him landing the role before he’d even graduated from the Institute. Since finishing his MRE, he has moved into the position full time.

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Seven years after graduating from the Institute, Hadrian recalls two main takeaways that have informed his work and research.

Research projects provide a good opportunity to reach out to people in organizations you’re interested in, and whose work overlaps with your own. For example, if you’re doing research on affordable housing, you can use that as an excuse to reach out to housing advocates, and tell them how your research overlaps with campaigns.

“People are happy to talk about work and careers, but those opportunities don’t exist until you create them,” he advises. “I don’t advertise that I offer career mentorships, but I take those emails every single time.”

Hadrian’s other piece of advice is to be open, and know that you’re not stuck in or committed to a specific topic. The most important learning in grad school is learning how to write and how to learn, which is transferrable across any industry or research area. “Learning to learn, critical thinking, and soft skills like writing and presentations, are all transferrable to any industry, and any area of expertise.”

Although he ultimately went on to focus his research elsewhere, two years of learning the ins and outs of trade policy during his MA gave him the expertise he needed to get a foot in the door at CCPA. He also notes that the theoretical foundations of the program, and understanding how the economy works and the dynamics of power relations, remain critical to his work today. While he doesn’t cite political theorists every day, he does think about their ideas regularly, and they inform his approach to addressing policy questions.

Interested in a placement at Institute of Political Economy? This opportunity is available to students in our flagship MA program—both as a supplementary course and as part of its Work and Labour concentration—as well as those in our new Graduate Diploma in Work and Labour.

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Written by Kenya Thompson

The post Placement in Political Economy appeared first on Institute of Political Economy.

The Institute of Political Economy is organizing a Spring Seminar Series to highlight some key issues being discussed in our Work and Labour program.

Seminar 1: Gig Economy (May 11, 2022)
Seminar 2: Waitressing  (May 24, 2022)

Seminar One: Gig Economy

Our first seminar will look at the Gig Economy. This seminar took place on May 11, 2022 via zoom.

Panellists will review and evaluate the ongoing organizing efforts in Ontario to gain employment rights, how the Ford government is threatening those rights and what we can do to support the Gig Workers Bill of Rights.

Kevin Matthews – Moderator
Graduate Diploma in Work and Labour Student
Specialist, Canadian Union of Postal Workers & Work and Labour program

ZoĂ« Abernethy – Panelist
MA Student in Political Economy with Concentration in Work and Labour

Jennifer Scott – Panelist
Gig Worker & President, Gig Workers United

Did you miss our Gig Worker Seminar? You can now watch it here:

Seminar Two: Waitressing 

 

Our second seminar will look at Taylor Maudlin’s research on why sexual harassment is so prevalent for female wait staff. Kaitlin Matulewicz and Andria Babbington will share their strategies for resistance as workers and organizers trying to counter sexualized violence and precarity in the service industry.

Ania Zbyszewska – Moderator
Assistant Professor, Department of Law and Legal Studies

Taylor Maudlin  – Panelist
MA Student in Women’s and Gender Studies with Graduate Diploma in Work and Labour

Kaitlyn Matulewicz – Panelist
Executive Director, Workers Solidarity Network

Andria Babbington – Panelist
President, Torontoand York Region Labour Council for UNITE-HERE

Did you miss our Waitressing  Seminar? You can now watch it here:

The post Work and Labour Seminar Series appeared first on Institute of Political Economy.

Bridging Theory and Activism in the Work & Labour Program:

A conversation with Jane Stinson

In September 2020, the Institute of Political Economy launched its Work and Labour program. A dynamic, diverse program, it offers students from a broad range of experiences—students, activists, labour leaders and staff, policymakers and analysts alike—an opportunity to analyzes questions relating to work, trade unions, and the labour movement.

Providing core knowledge, critical thinking, research and problem-solving skills, its students learn the skills necessary to work on labour issues in unions, non-profit organizations, government and academia, and to delve into theory to analyze the complex ways in which work and labour intersect with issues of gender, race, colonialism, globalization, environment and technological change.

In addition to supporting professional development and a rigorous, critical approach to issues pertaining to work and labour, this program provides a reflective space for experienced practitioners in the labour movement, and the opportunity to work and learn with specialists in work and labour, active in advocacy and academia in Canada and abroad.

In short, this program is exceptional and one-of-a-kind, thanks in part to Jane Stinson, an Institute of Political Economy alumni and lifelong activist and researcher.

Jane’s working and thinking on issues concerning work and labour has been years in the making.

She worked with the for 30 years in numerous capacities and she enrolled in the Institute of Political Economy’s Master’s program in 1999 while taking a break from work. She drew on this experience during Her graduate education provided an opportunity to be exposed to new ideas and reflect on her experience, completing

She cites her grassroots work as deeply influential for her own research and teaching, “I’ve always had a foot in academia and the trade union movement —sometimes at the same time, sometimes at different times in my life. Sometimes when you’re working, things comes at you really quickly, and you have to respond really quickly. I’ve found in my life it’s been helpful to take periods to step back from that, and think and reflect on things, and explore academic knowledge and understanding.”

After leaving CUPE in 2009, she began investigating the impact of economic development on women in northern communities, and ways to influence impact assessments in order to democratize decisions being made about resource extraction as Director of the , and with the . There, she has volunteered and worked in a variety of capacities—a researcher, a board member, a project lead, and even President—working on equality for women, , and .

In 2015 Jane reconnected with the Institute of Political Economy, as part of a core team (with Cristina Rojas, Donna Coghill, Justin Paulson and Teresa Healy) developing the proposal for the Institute’s new diploma program in Work and Labour. She now teaches its core course, PECO 5002, and chairs the Work and Labour program advisory board.

“When we were preparing the application to start the program, we did an analysis of courses offered at ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´, and there wasn’t much being offered on work and labour,” Jane explains. “One student said that PECO 5002 was the first course she’d taken that also talked about the role of trade unions.”

The Work and Labour program aims to fill this gap by bringing these critical, oft-neglected issues front and center. Class discussions typically draw upon the research interests and workplaces of its students, leading to conversations that address a wide breadth of questions. Jane offers a few examples:

Students’ interests guide the structure of the course and the direction of class discussions, and ample time and opportunity is open for students to express their views. “I learn a lot from the students,” Jane adds. “Because it’s an interdisciplinary class, students comes from different backgrounds, they bring different perspective and have different interests, and we really try to have an exchange of ideas among all of us in the classroom.”

For Jane, developing the Work and Labour program and teaching at the Institute has been a professional and personal endeavour, and truly a full-circle moment, drawing her back into a community where her academic career began.

“I started at ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ many years ago, and I’m now teaching in a classroom that I took a class in when I was 18 years old,” she says. “It’s funny—we start PECO 5002 talking about different models of learning. One is a spiral model of learning, that recognizes how you go out into the world and practice things after education, then you come back and you learn more. I feel like I’m really on that spiral, in the same spot but in a different place, many years later.”

“It’s neat to be back at ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´, having started there and having done my degree in Political Economy, and to see how things have changed, both in terms of our knowledge and the interests of students,” she says. ” I think it’s a really good program—it does really interesting work and attracts very interesting students, and I’m very happy to be associated with it again.”

Are you interested in the Work and Labour program? Hear from , and . Or, check out videos from Jane herself, in which she and .

Written by Kenya Thompson

The post Jane Stinson: Work & Labour appeared first on Institute of Political Economy.