St. Thomas More College

Research Area(s)

  • The social relations involved in building and maintaining a solidarity food system locally and globally.

Education

  • PhD  1993 - 2000, UNB in Sociology.  (Escaping the Technological Treadmill?: An Ethnographic Look at  the Development of Sustainable Agriculture in Canada and in Sweden.)  
  • M.A.  1990 -1993, UNB in Sociology. (Beyond the Farm-gate: A Case Study of Constraints and Possibilities as Experienced by N. B. Farm People).
  • B.A.   1986 -1990, St. Thomas University in Sociology (Honours). (A Critical Review of the Development of Rural Sociology).
  • Nova Scotia Agricultural College:  1969 to 1970, Plant Science Technology
  • Nova Scotia Agricultural College:  1967 to 1969, Plant Science Technician

Research Projects

  • Examining the use of the concepts of global solidarity, social justice and the common good in the social science and philosophy literature.
  • Working with Child Hunger and Education Program’s (CHEP) Community Garden project in relation to food security, community capacity building, social capital development and demographics of the CG members. We have begun to track the contribution of CHEPCG to local capacity building that can work beyond food security to broader social issues in the core neighbourhoods. 
  • Researching and writing a book for Fernwood Publishing's About Canada Series on Canadian Agriculture.
  • Co-investigator on a research proposal to study the impact of Fair Trade on the social determinants of health in the case of women members of production cooperative in Estelí, Nicaragua. 
  • Collaborating on a theoretical journal article on the concept of "sociological footprint" which will also be the core of a paper to be presented at the 2011 Congress of the Federation of Social Sciences and Humanities.
  • Working with a filmmaker and a farm activist on a research project documenting the farmland struggle on PEI from pre-confederation through to present day.

Future Research

  • Developing a research project to compare agricultural systems in Canada and France in relation to their ability to contribute to a socially just and sustainable food system.

Selected Publications and Presentations

  • D. A. McLaughlin, 2008. Differing Developments of Organic Agriculture in Canada and Sweden: The Experiences of Farmers Themselves. Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, 265 pp.
  • D. A. McLaughlin, 2007 Introduction: The Global context of the Canadian Wheat Board. In Terry Pugh and Darrell McLaughlin (Eds.).  Our Board Our Business: Why farmers support the Canadian Wheat Board. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing, pp. 18-29.
  • D. A. McLaughlin* and M. Clow 2007. Healing the Metabolic Rift Between Farming and the Eco-system: Challenges Facing Organic Farmers in Canada and in Sweden. In Socialist Studies: The Journal of the Society for Socialist Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1, 5-25
  • M. Clow & D. A. McLaughlin. 2009. Theorizing the Agriculture-Nature Relationship: The deep origins of the ‘Metabolic Rift’.  Canadian Sociology Association, May, Ottawa, ON.
  • D. A. McLaughlin.  2009.  Producers, consumers and social change. Fair Trade Forum by Rights and Democracy:  Saskatoon, SK. April 23rd.
  • D. A. McLaughlin* & D. A. Peacock. 2007. “Globalization and Food Insecurity”. Workshop. Tenth Prairie Region Health Promotion Research Centre Summer School, June, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
  • D. A. McLaughlin* & L. Schimpf. 2007. Building a solidarity food system, locally and globally: The case of domestic fair trade.   Second annual international fair trade symposium, University of Saskatchewan, June 2007, Saskatoon, SK.
  • D. A. McLaughlin* & T. Boehm. 2007. Writing itself out of the picture: Context and consequences of the Canadian state=s changes to the Canadian Wheat Board, Canadian Grain Commission and Seeds Act.  Society for Socialist Studies, University of Saskatchewan, May, Saskatoon, SK.
  • D. A. McLaughlin. "What's at stake?  Accounting for the crisis in the Canadian beef industry". With Daniel DeLury.  Presentation to the Annual Meeting of the Society for Socialist Studies, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec.  June 2, 2010.
  • D. A. McLaughlin & Daniel DeLury. "When elephants no longer dance: Constructing sustainable, socially just agricultural policies in Saskatchewan." In David McGrane (ed) New Directions in Saskatchewan Public Policy, University of Regina Press, 2011.