Marion Laurence

Education:

• Ph.D.               University of Toronto
• M.A.                Queen’s University
• B.A. (Hons)    Dalhousie University

Professional Affiliations:

International Studies Association
Canadian Political Science Association
Academic Council on the United Nations System

Profile:

Marion Laurence joined the Department of Political Science at Dalhousie in 2024. Her research interests include IR theory, global security governance, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, and the political sociology of international organizations. Broadly speaking, her work centres on norm and practice change in global governance, with a primary focus on multilateral peace and stability operations. Her book, Intrusive Impartiality: Learning, Contestation, and Practice Change in United Nations Peace Operations, will be published by Oxford University Press in November 2024.

Before taking up her current position, she was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Defence Studies at the Royal Military College of Canada, based at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto. At the Canadian Forces College, she taught in the Joint Command and Staff Programme and the National Security Programme, helping to prepare selected senior military officers for command and staff appointments in national and international settings. She previously held research and teaching appointments at the University of Toronto, the University of Ottawa, Toronto Metropolitan University, and the Dallaire Centre of Excellence for Peace and Security within the Canadian Defence Academy. She also holds affiliations with the Network for Strategic Analysis and Le Rubicon. Her work has been supported by grants and fellowships from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the International Studies Association, Global Affairs Canada, the Department of National Defence, and the Ontario government. She holds a PhD in political science from the University of Toronto.

Research Interests:

• Learning and change in international organizations
• Expertise and authority in global governance
• United Nations peace operations
• Protection of civilians
• Children and armed conflict
• Security sector governance and security force assistance
• Professional military education

Peer-reviewed Publications:

Laurence, Marion. Intrusive Impartiality: Learning, Contestation, and Practice Change in United Nations Peace Operations. New York: Oxford University Press (Forthcoming – November 2024)

Laurence, Marion. “Mission Impossible? Protection Dilemmas and the Future of Human Rights Due Diligence in UN Peace Operations.” Canadian Military Journal (Forthcoming).

Laurence, Marion. “Middle Powers.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies. Nukhet Sandal (ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023.

Dunton, Caroline, Marion Laurence and Gino Vlavonou. “Pragmatic Peacekeeping in a Multipolar Era: Liberal Norms, Practices, and the Future of UN Peace Operations.” Journal of Intervention & Statebuilding, vol. 17, no. 3 (2023): 215-234. (Introduction to special issue)

Alejandro, Audrey, Marion Laurence, and Lucile Maertens. “Discourse Analysis.” In Introduction to International Organization Research Methods, eds. Fanny Badache, Emilie Dairon, Leah R. Kimber, and Lucile Maertens. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2023.

Glas, Aarie and Marion Laurence. “Changing Norms in Practice: Non-Interference in the UN and ASEAN.” Journal of Global Security Studies, vol 7, no. 2 (2022).

Bernstein, Steven and Marion Laurence. “Practices and Norms: Relationships, Disjunctures, and Change.” In Conceptualizing International Practices, eds. Christian Bueger, Alena Drieschova, and Ted Hopf, 77-99. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022.

Laurence, Marion and Emily Paddon Rhoads. “Constructivism.” In United Nations Peacekeeping and International Relations Theory, eds. John Karlsrud and Kseniya Oksamytna. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2020.

Laurence, Marion. “An ‘Impartial’ Force? Normative Ambiguity and Practice Change in UN Peace Operations.” International Peacekeeping, vol. 26, no. 3. (2019): 256-280.

Paddon Rhoads, Emily and Marion Laurence. “Peace Operations, Principles, and Doctrine.” In Palgrave Encyclopedia of Peace and Conflict Studies, eds. Oliver Richmond and Gëzim Visoka, 1-9. Cham: Palgrave MacMillan, 2019.

Selected Policy-Oriented Publications:

Department of National Defence. JDN 2023-01 - Canadian Armed Forces Joint Doctrine Note: Canadian Armed Forces Responses to Preventing the Recruitment and Use of Children in Conflict. Ottawa: Government of Canada, 31 May 2023.

Laurence, Marion. “Managing Cooperation with Troubled States: Protection of Civilians, Human Rights Due Diligence, and the UN Mission in Mali.” Defence and Security Foresight Group Working Paper, University of Waterloo, 2021.

Laurence, Marion. Mapping the Field: Programmes for Defence and Security Professionals Related to Children and Armed Conflict. Kingston: Canadian Defence Academy, 2021.

Laurence, Marion. “Practice Theory, Tacit Knowledge, and Changes in Peacekeeping Practice.” Global Cooperation Research – A Quarterly Magazine, 01/2021. Centre for Global Cooperation Research, University of Duisburg-Essen.

Laurence, Marion. “Data-Driven Peacekeeping and the Vancouver Principles: Towards Improved Monitoring and Reporting for Grave Violations Against Children.” Allons-y: Journal of Children, Peace and Security, vol. 4 (March 2020): 73-85.

Laurence, Marion. What are the Benefits and Pitfalls of ‘Data-Driven’ Peacekeeping? Ottawa: Centre for International Policy Studies, 2019.

Laurence, Marion. “Aligning goals and core principles in UN peacekeeping,” Policy Options, 9 November 2017.

Online Media:

Twitter: @MarionLLaurence  

Academia.edu: https://cda.academia.edu/MarionLaurence

Website: marionlaurence.ca