School of Social and Political Science

Background

Education

• 2012, PhD, University of Toronto
• 2004, MA, University of Toronto
• 2001, BA, York University (Canada)

Biography

I joined PIR in 2020 from Memorial University of Newfoundland, where I was associate professor in the Department of Political Science. While at Memorial, I held visiting positions at Pompeu Fabra University and the Institute for Self-Government Studies (Barcelona); Institute for Studies on Federalism and Regionalism at EURAC (Bolzano, Italy), where I was a Federal Scholar in Residence; University of Barcelona; and the Centre on Constitutional Change (Edinburgh). I am co-director of the Centre on Constitutional Change and co-director of the MSc Nationalism in Global Perspective

Research

I work on the comparative politics of nationalism, with a focus on multinational states. I research and write about institutional formation and change in multinational systems, the consequence of that change for political stability, and the politics of nationalist conflict and secession. I bring these themes together in The Symbolic State: Minority Recognition, Majority Backlash, and Secession in Multinational Countries, published in 2021 with McGill-Queen's University Press.

This work has led me down three new research paths. The first explores the symbolic dimension of federal and power-sharing institutions. I have published on this in Territory, Politics, and Governance, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Nations and Nationalism, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, and Slavic Review. The second path is about political mobilization. I analyze how activists frame events and time in order to achieve radical political change. Publications on this theme have come out in Comparative Political Studies and Political Psychology. Finally, I am developing a comparative project on the role of business in the debates and outcomes of secession referenda. A chapter on this issue can be found in a volume on the strategies of secession and counter-secession. A related review of literature on the tensions and complementarities between capitalism and nationalism was published by The State of Nationalism project. 

I am opportunistic in my research – I employ whatever method I deem is best to answer a particular question. I find that familiarity with multiple sites of study produces the most insightful and original work. I have therefore conducted fieldwork in multiple settings (Spain, the UK, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and Canada), often through repeated visits. This work has been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Memorial University of Newfoundland, University of Toronto, and Institut d'Estudis de l'Autogovern.

Publications

Books

The Symbolic State: Minority Recognition, Majority Backlash, and Secession in Multinational Countries. McGill-Queen's University Press, 2021.

Edited volume (with John McGarry and Richard Simeon). Territorial Pluralism: Managing Difference in Multinational States. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2015.

Refereed Journal Articles

“Nationalism and Capitalism”, The State of Nationalism: An International Review (2024).

With Astrid Barrio, “Mechanisms of Mobilization: The Catalan ‘Procés’ and the ‘Lost Autonomy’ Theories of Secession,” Territory, Politics, Governance online first (2023).

With Ailsa Henderson, "Multinationalism, Constitutional Asymmetry and COVID: UK Responses to the Pandemic," Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, Vol. 21, No. 3 (2021): 293-310. 

"Time's Up!": Framing Collective Impatience for Radical Political Change, "Political Psychology, Vol. 41, No. 4 (2020): 755-770.

"Performing Canadian State Nationalism through Federal Symmetry," Nationalism and Ethnic Politics Vol. 26, No. 1 (2020): 66-84.

"The Social Construction of Transformative Political Events", Comparative Political Studies, Vol. 51, No. 10 (2018): 1243-1278.

"The State between Minority and Majority Nationalism: Decentralization, Symbolic Recognition, and Secessionist Crises in Spain and Canada", Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Vol. 48, No. 1 (2017); pp. 51-75 (*John Kincaid Best Article Award, Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations section of the American Political Science Association).

"Imagined Institutions: The Symbolic Power of Formal Rules in Bosnia and Herzegovina", Slavic Review, Vol. 75, No. 4 (2016); pp. 944-969.

With Lenka Bustikova, "Concession and Secession: Constitutional Bargaining Failure in Post-Communist Czechoslovakia", Swiss Political Science Review, Vol. 22, No. 4 (2016); pp. 470-490.

"Bosnia is (Not) Like Yugoslavia: The Structure of Grievances and Self-determination Claims in Multinational States." Politička Misao (Croatian Political Science Review), Vol. 52, No. 1 (2015); pp. 164-190; in Croatian.

"The State as a Symbol or a Means to an End: Internal Border Changes in Multinational Federations." Nations and Nationalism, Vol. 20, No. 3 (2014), pp. 459-480.

"Non-Ethnic Sources of Ethnofederal Institutions: The Case of Yugoslavia." Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, Vol. 16, No. 1 (2010), pp. 92-110.

Book Chapters

“Secessionist De-mobilization: From 'Exit' Back to 'Voice',” In Ryan Griffiths, Aleksandar Pavković, and Peter Radan, eds. Routledge Handbook on Self-Determination and Secession. London: Routledge, 2023.

"Business as a Political Actor: Mapping the Role of the Private Sector in Independence Referenda." In Ryan Griffiths and Diego Muro, eds. Strategies of Secession and Counter-secession. Lanham: ECPR Press, 2020.

"Sustaining Territorial Pluralism: The Political Economy of Institutional Change." In Karlo Basta, John McGarry & Richard Simeon, eds. Territorial Pluralism: Managing Difference in Multinational States. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2015.

"Conclusion: The Continuing Relevance of Territorial Pluralism", with Richard Simeon in Karlo Basta, John McGarry & Richard Simeon, eds. Territorial Pluralism: Managing Difference in Multinational States. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2015.

With Valérie Vézina, "Newfoundland Nationalism." In Matthew Kirby and Alex Marland, eds. Politics and Public Policy in Newfoundland. Kingston & Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2014.