Thesis Title: Borders, identity, and gender: The Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement and the limits of Canada’s multiculturalism
Abstract: Canada has a reputation for exceptionalism, particularly in its protection of refugees, human rights, and multiculturalism; this reputation, however, stands in stark contrast with the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement and its most recent amendment in March 2023. The amendment extended the agreement’s coverage to irregular points of entry along the Canada-US border, not solely official ones as it had previously. Since the amendment came into effect in March 2023, there has been a drastic decrease in asylum seekers’ presence at the Canadian border. This research will contribute to the literature on the nexus between security and human rights discourse and practices by untangling the perceived contradiction of Canada, and its identity as a multicultural nation with welcoming borders, and an agreement which has been contested on human rights grounds. To do so, I will examine how the Canadian government has described and justified the agreement; how asylum seekers are constructed by the agreement and the discourse around it; as well as how this affects their journeys to and experiences of the border, particularly along gendered lines. A feminist geopolitical framework will be used and is important to locate how gender and identity effect asylum seekers’ experiences of the agreement and to avoid conflating all types of mobility. This research will adopt a qualitative approach using both discourse analysis and interviews. The choice of framework and methodology seeks to take a critical approach by centering the knowledge and experiences of asylum seekers throughout the research process.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Cristina Juverdeanu
Social Media: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madeleineberry/