Silences in Canadian Foreign Policy Textbooks and Course Outlines

Abstract

In this article, I examine one book, seven edited volumes, and twenty-four Canadian Foreign Policy course outlines to assess the inclusion of women scholars, feminist research, Indigenous scholars, and Indigenous-themed research. As we will see, the degree to which “silences have been broken” is strikingly uneven. Indigenous scholars are rare in the field and the inclusion of work by Indigenous scholars is also rare. The extent of inclusion of women scholars in edited volumes is varied, as is the representation of women scholars in readings found in course outlines. Some texts and course outlines show that the silences have been broken. However, through whose work they include, some textbooks and course outlines suggest that the work of women scholars remains marginal to the field, that Indigenous content is of little relevance, and in some cases, the work of Indigenous and female scholars is neither heard nor seen.