Rachael Johnstone

Education:

• Ph.D., Queen’s University
• M.A., University of New Brunswick
• B.A., Dalhousie University

Profile:

Rachael Johnstone joined the Department of Political Science at Dalhousie in 2021. Her research explores intersections between Canadian politics, public policy, and law. To date, her work has focused predominantly on reproductive rights, exploring the ways they have been shaped through federalism, the Charter, public policy, and social movement activity. This work includes a book, After Morgentaler: The Politics of Abortion in Canada, published by UBC Press in 2017, which investigates the political, legal, medical, and social regulation of abortion following the landmark R. v. Morgentaler decision (1988) that decriminalized abortion in Canada. More recently, with support from a SSHRC Insight Development Grant, she has begun exploring reproductive politics as it is experienced by politicians themselves. The right to qualify as a representative in public office in one of democracy’s fundamental rights, but equality issues relating to reproduction continue to plague these offices. She is currently working on a manuscript, Baby Steps? Towards Family Friendly Legislatures, which asks what family-friendly legislatures can and should look like. In what ways might institutions and policies change in pursuit of inclusivity? And, if they cannot change, exactly how democratic are our institutions?

She is also a co-applicant on a SSHRC Insight Development studying the regulation of online hate speech in Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Her research has appeared in a variety of leading journals, including the Canadian Journal of Political Science, Canadian Public Administration, the Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, and the Journal of Canadian Studies.

Website: http://rachaeljohnstone.ca

Selected Publications:

Books

Johnstone, Rachael, and Bessma Momani, eds. 2024. Glass Ceilings and Ivory Towers: Gender Inequality in the Canadian Academy. Vancouver: UBC Press.

Johnstone, Rachael. 2017. After Morgentaler: The Politics of Abortion in Canada. Vancouver: UBC Press.

Journal Articles

Johnstone, Rachael. 2024. “When the House is Not a Home: Assessing the Family-Friendliness of Canadian Legislatures.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 57: 278-300.

Gordon, Kelly, and Rachael Johnstone. 2024. “Abortion Anarchy?: The Case for Abortion Decriminalization.” Social and Legal Studies. (Online First)

Johnstone, Rachael, and Victoria Tait-Signal. 2023. “Sexual Misconduct, Civil-Military Relations, and the Canadian Armed Forces.” Armed Forces & Society. (Online first)

Johnstone, Rachael, and Bessma Momani. 2022. “Gender mainstreaming in the Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence: Lessons on the implementation of Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+).” Armed Forces and Society 48(2): 247-273.

Macfarlane, Emmett, and Rachael Johnstone. 2021. “Equality Rights, Abortion Access, and New Brunswick’s Regulation 84-20.” University of New Brunswick Law Journal 72: 302-324.

Johnstone, Rachael. 2020. “How Much is that Gamete in the Window? Embryos, policy, and the law.” The Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 32(1): 140-161.

Johnstone, Rachael. 2018. “Explaining Abortion Policy Developments in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.” Journal of Canadian Studies 52(3).

Johnstone, Rachael, and Emmett Macfarlane.  2015. “Public Policy, Rights and Abortion Access in Canada.” International Journal of Canadian Studies 51: 97-120.

Book Chapters

Johnstone, Rachael. 2020. “Is that really necessary?: The Regulation of Abortion in Canada and the Framework of Medical Necessity.” In No Place for the State: The Origins and Legacies of the 1969 Omnibus Bill, edited by Christopher Dummit and Christabelle Sethna, 259-280. Vancouver: UBC Press.

Johnstone, Rachael. 2018. “Canadian Abortion Policy.” In Policy Change, Courts, and the Constitution, edited by Emmett Macfarlane, 336-355. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Johnstone, Rachael. 2017. “Between a Woman and Her Doctor?: The Medicalization of Abortion Politics in Canada.” In Abortion: History, Politics, and Reproductive Justice after Morgentaler, edited by Shannon Stettner, Kristin Burnett, and Travis Hay, 217-238. Vancouver: UBC Press.