King's Profile - Jacquetta (Jacquie) Newman

Name

Jacquetta (Jacquie) Newman

Department

Political Science

Courses that I teach
  • Canadian Government and Politics (2230E)
  • Comparative Politics of Protest and Social Justice (3300)
  • Women and Politics (2227E)
  • Comparative Politics (2245E)
  • Introduction to Politics (1120E)
Area of research

Fundamentally I am in interested in what is now referred to as “governance” and the sort of politics that emerge out of the relationship between state and society. So in terms of distinct categories it would be the following:

  • Political Sociology
    • Social movements
    • Political Identities
  • Comparative Politics (Industrial States)
    • Women’s Politics and Public Policy
    • Democratic structures and practices
Current research projects

I have three projects on the go at the moment

  1. Neo-liberal feminism. This project is exploring the construction of young middle class women as neo-liberal subjects which also makes them open to an individualized form of liberal feminism. At this point this project has examined neo-liberalism and feminism as a defining feature of youth political attitudes (surveys) and middle class university women (qualitative). It has also examined the changes in the Ontario school curriculum and traced the development of neo-liberal and “girl positive” discourses in the educational system. Currently, data is being gathered to examine the relationship between changes in labour market equity policies and the economic achievement of various age cohorts of women.
  2. In a small research group with three upper year students, we are examining the role of private members’ legislation in the Canadian Parliament, the relationship between political parties and private members’ bills, and the role of civil society and the private members process.
  3. I am starting to develop a project to undertake during my sabbatical year on the structures of “governance” in New Brunswick and the role of civil society groups (environmental and women’s) in this political network.
How this program makes a difference

It makes students cognizant to the distribution of power around them and gets them to engage with the idea that politics is the process by which we organize ourselves in collective groups determining who gets what, when, and how. In short it helps them understand what the heck is going on around them. 

What I enjoy about working at King's

The community feeling and general collegiality; people do seem to care about one another for the most part. I also like the freedom that I get to follow the interests that engage me rather than having pressure to study topics that are more likely to attract funds.

Interests outside of King's
  • Canadian Indie-Alternative music: Music has been a big part of my life since high school; I’ve always kept track of new music that has come out of the punk and alternative rock scene. I like to get out to as much live music that my schedule lets me and download a fair amount to listen to. My tastes are quite varied but my preference is still predominantly Indie-Alternative, blues, jazz, some classical and opera. I now listen to much more electronic and folk and am even warming up to some country; country roots that is, not that ‘new country’ stuff. 
  • Crafty stuff: I like making stuff that can be functional, esthetically interesting, or both. This includes knitting, sewing, leather work, and general building of things like tables, lamps, dirigibles (not entirely successful as we didn’t have enough helium to get lift), model catapults and trebuchets, potato cannons. The engineering of some of these things is fascinating and then they go “boom.”
  • Kayaking and Canoeing: Now we do this mainly at our cottage in New Brunswick, but my husband Bill and I have been going on canoe trips and spending time on the water for the past 20 years. Now my son has also caught the bug. Our last outing in October was a day trip (20K) down the Colorado River/Grand Canyon outside Las Vegas on the 4th rainiest day in Vegas history.