Between Colliding Worlds: The Ambiguous Existence of Government Agencies for Aboriginal and Women's Policy

by Jonathan Malloy

Jonathan Malloy's Between Colliding Worlds examines the relationship between governments and external activists through a comparative study of policy units dedicated to aboriginal and women's issues in Australia and Canada. Malloy identifies these units or 'special policy agencies' as sitting on the boundary between the world of permanent public servants and that of collective social movements working for broad social and political change. These agencies at once represent the interests of social movements to government while simultaneously managing relations with social movements on behalf of government, and thus operate in a state of permanent ambiguity. Malloy contends that rather than criticizing these agencies for their inherently contradictory nature, we must reconsider them as effectively dealing with the delicate issue of bridging social movements with state politics. In other words, the very existence of these special policy agencies provides a forum for social movements and the state to work out their differences. Relying heavily on interviews with public servants and external activists, Malloy argues convincingly that special policy agencies, despite - or because of - their ambiguous relationship to different communities, make critical contributions to governance.

217 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2003

About the author

Jonathan Malloy is Professor of Political Science at Carleton University. His teaching and research focus on Canadian and Ontario politics. He also has a strong interest in university career mentorship and administration and served two terms as chair of his department. His most recent book is Work Your Career: Get What You Want From Your Social Sciences or Humanities PhD, co-authored with Loleen Berdahl, the product of twenty years of observing and advising potential and current doctoral students.

His co-edited book The Politics of Ontario is a comprehensive introduction to the politics and government of Canada's largest province. His co-edited book Fighting For Votes is the first and only complete study of an Ontario provincial election.

He has been at Carleton University since 2000 and has also held visiting professorships at Duke University and the Australian National University