Laura Macdonald is a Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Institute of Political Economy at Carleton University. She has published numerous articles in journals and edited collections on such issues as the role of non-governmental organizations in development, global civil society, citizenship struggles in Latin America, Canadian development assistance and the political impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement on human rights and democracy in the three member states. She is author of Supporting Civil Society: The Political Impact of NGO Assistance to Central America (Macmillan/St. Martin’s 1997), co-author of Women, Democracy, and Globalization in North America: A Comparative Study (Palgrave Macmillan 2006), and co-editor of Post-Neoliberalism in the Americas (Palgrave Macmillan 2009, with Arne Ruckert), Contentious Politics in North America (Palgrave Macmillan 2009, with Jeffrey Ayres) and North America in Question (University of Toronto Press 2012, with Jeffrey Ayres.
Sectoral areas of interest:
- Democracy and Human Rights
- Canadian foreign assistance
- Development theories
- Non-governmental organizations and Civil Society
- International Trade and Regionalization
Geographic areas of Interest:
- Latin America (especially Mexico)
- North America