Recent Research Projects
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Insight Grant, 2023-2029. Titled: Mobilizing Dissent: Women’s Movements in British Columbia
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Partnership Engage Grant (Co-Applicant), 2024-2025, LGBTQ2A+ Newcomers and Employment in Canada
- Mitacs Accelerate Grant (Co-Applicant), 2023-24 (2023): Supporting LGBTQ2A+ Newcomers for Employment in Canada
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Partnership Engage Grant, 2023-24: The 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Insight Development Grant, 2020-24: Immigrant and Refugee Settlement in Canada: Trends in Government Funding
- Killam Small Operating Grant, 2019-20: Comparative Human Rights Law: Canada and Ireland
- Child and Youth Refugee Research Coalition, 2018-2019: Immigrant and Refugee Settlement Programs in Alberta: Trends in Federal and Provincial Funding
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Partner Engage Grant, 2017-2018: Exploring New Technologies for Research: The State and Social Movements in Canada
- Child and Youth Refugee Research Coalition, 2017-2018: Provincial and Federal Refugee Settlement Funding Programs
- Kule Institute for Advanced Studies CRAfT Grant, 2017-2018: Digital Research Archive
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Insight Grant, 2014-20: State Funding for Social Movements in Canada
- Killam Cornerstone Grant, 2012-13: A History of Human Rights in Canada
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Standard Research Grant, 2010-13: The Rise and Fall of British Columbia’s Human Rights State, 1953 to 1984
- Canadian Human Rights Commission, 2011-12: The Evolution of Canadians’ Conceptions of Human Rights in the Twentieth Century
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Aid to Research Workshops and Conferences in Canada, 2008: The Sixties in Canada
- Co-Investigator, SSHRC Partnerships Grant, 2016-2021 ($2,500,000):Using research to inform best practices for language, literacy, learning, social integration, and child and family wellbeing
- Collaborator, SSHRC Partnerships Grant, 2015-2022 ($2,500,000): Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security and Society
“Dr. Clément is an internationally recognized authority and Canada’s leading expert on the history of social movements and human rights.”—Royal Society of Canada, 2018.
I pioneered some of the first historical-sociological studies on human rights theory, including the most-cited book on Canadian human rights history. These studies have been republished in other languages and extensively referenced by scholars around the world. My work challenges dominant (celebratory) narratives around human rights. It demonstrates how a rights framework often presumes legal solutions to systemic social problems. And the inadequacy of law in addressing issues such as poverty or climate change. This research has led to invitations to publish in American, Australian, British, Chinese, and Canadian journals as well as serving as a visiting professor in Australia, Belgium, China, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
My research on the nonprofit sector has revealed shocking regional disparities in government funding practices. For example: Vancouver provides more funding to nonprofit organizations than the combined total of every other municipality in British Columbia; Ontario receives double the amount of federal funding than the rest of the country for women’s issues; and Toronto / Ottawa receive more funding than the next 50 cities combined in some sectors. This research has not only impacted state funding practices – it produced methodological innovations in the use of digital tools for research.
The impact of my work extends to public policy. I was recently invited to testify before the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights. I have collaborated with NGOs to successfully advocate for reforms to human rights law; played a leading role in the development of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights; worked with state agencies to foster transparency in government finances; assisted immigrant-serving agencies in advocating for more funding; developed training programs to support 2SLGBTQIA+ newcomers; and collaborated with human rights commissions to produce educational programming.