Chair: Dianne Pinderhughes
Plenary Speakers:
Terri Givens
Aníbal Pérez-Liñán
Peter Anyang' Nyong'o
Swarna Rajagopalan
Pearl Robinson
Marian Sawer
This Presidential Plenary responds to the framework of this 27th World Congress:
“…[T]hese complex transboundary problems and opportunities, the discipline of political science needs conceptual lenses and theoretical approaches that span traditional disciplinary boundaries and cross over social, cultural, economic, religious, ethnic, sexual and linguistic delineations. Connecting theory and praxis is also important.”
The plenary’s participants therefore bring a wide and exciting array of experiences, both in academic as well as in public sector environments to this plenary for the World Congress. Their intellectual and organizational as well as public sector work will generate dynamic discussion to broaden our understanding of the character and challenges of today’s Transboundary Crises. The scholars on the plenary cover the world, and based on their own scholarly work and leadership responsibilities, consider the contemporary problems facing national and international bodies. Whether issues arise from military conflicts, immigration crises, pandemics such as COVID, racial and ethnic tensions, and/or gender based tensions, this group of scholars are well prepared to bring their decades of experience onto the stage for discussion.
Terri Givens is a scholar of European politics, immigration and race. She is Professor of Political Science at McGill University, as well as the Provost’s Academic Lead and Advisor on McGill’s Action Plan to Address Anti-Black Racism.
Aníbal Pérez-Liñán is a scholar of democratization, political institutions, executive-legislative relations, and the rule of law. He is Director of the Kellogg Institute for International Studies as well as Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame.
Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o is Governor of Kisumu County in Kenya. He also served as a faculty member in Political Science at the University of Nairobi, and at Universities in Mexico and Ethiopia. He finished his PhD in Political Science at the University of Chicago. He served in national Ministerial level roles as Minister of Planning and National Development and as Minister for Health Services, before serving in the Kenyan Senate for Kisumu County. He delivered a plenary address at IPSA’s World Congress in 2016, “When Democracy Fails Twice: Can Losers Accept the Victors as Legitimate.”
Swarna Rajagopalan is a scholar of security, peace accords, and women’s issues in Asia. She is a writer, political analyst, consultant and social entrepreneur in Chennai, India. She is the founding trustee of The Prajnya Trust, which is building a centre for policy research, advocacy and networking in the areas of peace, justice and security. Her consultancy, Chaitanya, has undertaken educational programming, research conferences, commissioned research, research direction and reviews as well as project evaluations and reviews. She is active as a scholar on traditional and non-traditional security topics. She also writes for both print and electronic media.
Pearl Robinson is a professor of Political Science at Tufts University, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and is past President of the African Studies Association. She is a scholar of African and African American Politics, as well as having chaired the Social Science Research Council/American Council for Learned Society’s Joint Committee on African Studies. She has also taught at Makerere University in Uganda and the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. She is working on an intellectual biography of Ralph Bunche, the Nobel Peace Laureate, and Mama Kiotal, a documentary film about Islam and female empowerment in Islam.
Marian Sawer is Emeritus Professor at the Australian Centre for Federalism. She was formerly Head of the Political Science Program at Australian National University. Her scholarship focuses on democratic theory and practice, electoral administration, gender politics and policy, social movements and the state. She has participated in many leadership positions in the International Political Science Association, as Program Co-Chair for the 2016 24th World Congress, Co-Editor for the International Political Science Review and created IPSA’s Gender and Diversity Monitoring Report.
