Pascal Lupien

Associate Professor

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BA (Honours): McGill University
MIS: Université de Montréal
MA: University of Guelph
PhD: University of Guelph

Office: Plaza 352
905 688 5550 x3478
plupien@brocku.ca

Pascal Lupien is Associate Professor of Political Science at Brock University. He is also a Fellow at the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC, York University), and co-coordinator of the Groupe de recherche Afriques-Amérique latine (GRAAL, University of Alberta). He holds a PhD in Political Science and an MA in Latin American Studies from the University of Guelph, a Master’s in Information Studies (MIS) from the Université de Montréal, and a BA in Politics from McGill University.

Dr. Lupien’s research interests revolve around participatory democracy, social movements, the factors that enhance or diminish the capacity of marginalized communities to participate in politics. He currently leads a SSHRC-funded project entitled “Indigenous Women and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs): Supporting an Empowered and Resilient North-South Community”. This transnational multidisciplinary project draws on a community-based approach in order to ensure that the direction of the research is guided by Indigenous women. Working across three jurisdictions (Bolivia, Ecuador and Canada’s Yukon Territory), project participants seek to develop indigenized and gendered ICT solutions that will support Indigenous women’s efforts to engage in the public sphere, and to facilitate sharing of stories and strategies across settler-imposed borders. Lupien’s new research project examines the political participation of migrants in countries such as Argentina and Brazil.

Lupien’s latest book, Indigenous Civil Society in Latin America: Collective Action in the Digital Age (University of North Carolina Press, 2023), draws on four years of immersive, community-engaged fieldwork in Bolivia, Ecuador and Chile. It shows how Indigenous organizations today are newly pursuing, adapting, and sustaining local activism in a globalized, technology-centered world. His research has also been published in journals such as Democratization; Citizenship Studies; Political Science Quarterly; Information, Communication and Society; Social Media + Society; Gender, Place and Culture; and Latin American Perspectives.

Dr. Lupien’s teaching interests include the politics of Latin America, democracy and democratization, civil society and social movements, and comparative politics (particularly with respect to the Global South). He welcomes the opportunity to supervise graduate students in his areas of expertise.

Areas of specialization:

  • Comparative politics
  • Latin American politics
  • Indigenous politics (Andean region)
  • Participatory democracy
  • Social movements
  • Political communication and social media
  • Immigrants and political participation

Selected Publications

  • Lupien, P. 2023. Indigenous Civil Society in Latin America: Collective Action in the Digital Age. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
  • Lupien, P. 2022. Participatory Democracy, Democratic Education, and Women, Journal of Latin American Studies. doi:10.1017/S0022216X22000517
  • Lupien, P., A. Rincón, A. Lalama, and G. Chiriboga. 2022. Framing Indigenous Protest in the Online Public Sphere: A Comparative Frame Analysis. New Media and Society. doi:10.1177/ 14614448221074705
  • Lupien, P. and L. Rourke. 2021. (Mis)information, Democracy and Information Literacy:
    Paths for Teaching and Research to Foster Informed Citizenship. Journal of Information Literacy. 15(3).
  • Lupien, P., G. Chiriboga and S. Machaca. 2021. Indigenous Movements, ICTs and the State in Latin America. Journal of Information Technology & Politics. doi.org/10.1080/19331681.2021.1887039
  • Lupien, P., A. Rincón, F. Carrera, and G. Lagos. 2021. Early COVID-19 policy responses in Latin America: A comparative analysis of social protection and health policy. Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies. 46(2): 297-317.
  • Lupien, P. 2018. Citizens’ Power in Latin America: Theory and Practice. Albany: State University of New York (SUNY) Press.
  • Lupien, P. 2020. Women and Participatory Mechanisms in Latin America: Deepening Democracy or More of the Same? Gender, Place and Culture. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2020.1817874
  • Lupien, P. 2020. Indigenous Movements, Collective Action, and Social Media: New Opportunities or New Barriers? Social Media + Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305120926487
  • Lupien, P. 2020. Les médias socionumériques et la participation des minorités nationales à la vie politique Terminal: Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication. 127.
  • Lupien, P., M. Posso, A. Basantes & G. Chiriboga. 2020. Impact of ICTs on the development of commercial activities in Indigenous communities in Ecuador, Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies. 45(1).
  • Lupien, P. 2020. Indigenous Politics and Resistance in Latin America: Continuity and Change. In Vanden, H and G. Prevost, Oxford Encyclopedia of Latin American Politics. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Lupien, P. and G. Chiriboga. 2019. Use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) by Indigenous Civil Society Organizations, Information, Communication and Society, 22(8): 1029-1043.
  • Lupien, P. 2018. Participatory Democracy and Ethnic Minorities: Opening Inclusive New Spaces or Reproducing Inequalities? Democratization. 25(7): 1251-1269.
  • Lupien, P. 2015. Mechanisms for Popular Participation and Discursive Constructions of Citizenship, Citizenship Studies, 19(3-4): 367-383.
  • Lupien, P. 2015. Ignorant Mobs or Rational Actors? Understanding Support for Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution, Political Science Quarterly, 130(2): 319-340.
  • Lupien, P. 2015. ¿Escuelas de democracia o agentes de socialización? Discursos transmitidos a través de los mecanismos participativos en Venezuela, Ecuador y Chile, Espacio Abierto, 24(1): 45-66.
  • Lupien, P. 2013. The Media and Attacking the “Bad Left” From Below in Venezuela and Bolivia. Latin American Perspectives, 40(3): 226-246.
  • Lupien, P. 2011. The Incorporation of Indigenous Concepts of Plurinationality into the New Constitutions of Ecuador and Bolivia. Democratization, 18 (3): 774-796.

Teaching Areas

Courses taught:

  • POLI 2P32, Comparative Politics II: Society and Policy Issues
  • POLI 3P46, Politics of Latin America
  • POLI 3P43, Politics of the Developing World
  • POLI 4P36-5P36, Comparative Democratization in a Global Age
  • POLI 5P85, Graduate Seminar in Comparative Politics

Student Supervision

Professor Lupien is interested in supervising graduate students working in the areas of:

  • Latin American politics
  • Indigenous politics
  • Participatory development, alternative forms of development
  • Democracy, democratization and democratic reversal
  • Social movements and civil society
  • Social media and politics