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Political Science

Dr. Reeta Tremblay

Reeta Tremblay

Adjunct and Professor Emerita

Political Science

Contact:
Credentials:
PhD (1990) Chicago
Area of expertise:
Comparative federalism, public policy, identity politics, Global South (South Asia)

About

Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay is Professor Emerita of comparative politics in the department of Political Science at the University of Victoria.

Her major areas of research are secessionist movements (Kashmir) in South Asia, the politics of subaltern resistance and accommodation in post-colonial societies, democracy and governance and comparative federalism.

During her career, she has held several administrative positions including Vice President Academic and Provost at the University of Victoria; Vice President (Academic) and Pro Vice-Chancellor (Pro Tem) at Memorial University in Newfoundland; dean of the Faculty of Arts at Memorial; and chair, Department of Political Science at Concordia University, Montreal.

Reeta Tremblay is past president of the Canadian Political Science Association (CPSA), Canadian Asian Studies (CASA), and the Canadian Council of Area Studies of Learned Societies (including Canadian Asian Studies, Latin American Studies, African Studies and the Middle Eastern Studies). She has also served or is serving on editorial boards of several disciplinary journals including PS Political Science (APSA), Pacific Affairs, Canadian Journal of Law and Society, Politics and Governance.

Reeta Tremblay holds an MA and PhD in political science from the University of Chicago. She also has an MPhil degree from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, India and an MA and BA from the University of Kashmir. 

She has authored or co-authored several books, articles, and reviews. Her work is widely reviewed and cited—in particular, her writings on Kashmir and India-Pakistan relations, a subject on which she is widely considered the leading North American expert. She has been recognized for her exceptional teaching at both the graduate and undergraduate levels and has received the Concordia University Alumni Association Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2002.

Reeta Tremblay's selected recent publications include: "The Political Economy of Natural Resource Funds" (2021 with Eyene Okpanachi); "Religion and Politics in Jammu and Kashmir" (2020) "India: Federalism, Nationalism, and the Marginalized – Covid India" (2020); Kashmir Elections: A Precursor to 'No More Two Flags, Two Constitutions" (2019); "Modi’s Foreign Policy" (2017 with Ashok Kapur); "Contested Governance, Competing Nationalisms, and Disenchanted Publics: Kashmir beyond Intractability?" (2017) "Kashmir’s Contentious Politics: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same" (2015); "Beyond Parochialism and Domestic Preoccupation: The Current State of Comparative Politics in Canada" (2013) and "Labor Migration, Citizenship, and Social Welfare in China and India" (2013 with Josephine Smart).

She also contributes commentaries on South Asia, in particular on Kashmir and on South Asian regional politics to South Asia Monitor (projects of the New Delhi-based think tank, Society for Policy Studies) and to KashmirConnected. In 2015, she was recognized as one of the top 40 prominent Indo-Canadians and was profiled in The Indian Diaspora’ A-List.

Selected publications

  • 2021. Eyene Okpanachi and Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay. The Political Economy of Natural Resource Funds, International Political Economy Series, Palgrave Macmillan. Forthcoming. 
  • 2020. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay and Namitha George, "India: Federalism, Nationalism, and the Marginalized" in Victor Ramraj edited, Covid-19 in Asia: Law and Policy Contexts, Oxford University Press.
  • 2020. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay and Mohita Bhatia edited. Religion and Politics in Jammu and Kashmir, Routledge.
  • 2020. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay  and Mohita Bhatia, "Setting the Context: Religion, Secularism and Secularization—Diversities in Jammu and Kashmir", in Religion and Politics in Jammu and Kashmir, Routledge: 1-18.
  • 2020. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay  and Shahnwaz Gull, Secularization, Religion and Identity: Resistance in Kashmir Valley”, in Religion and Politics in Jammu and Kashmir, Routledge: 44-72.
  • 2019. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay and Husnain Iqbal, "Kashmir Elections: A Precursor to ‘No More Two Flags, Two Constitutions" in Paul Wallace edited, India's 2019 Elections: The Hindutva Wave and Indian Nationalism, New Delhi, Sage Publications: 179-198.
  • 2018. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, “Displacement and Refugees with Respect to Human Rights Regimes”, Encyclopedia of Business and Professional Ethics, edited by Deborah C. Poff and Alex C. Michalos.
  • 2017. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay and Ashok Kapur, Modi’s Foreign Policy, Sage Publications.
  • 2017. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, "Contested Governance, Competing Nationalisms, and Disenchanted Publics: Kashmir beyond Intractability?" Chitralekhas Zutshi edited  Kashmir: History, Politics, and Representation, Cambridge University Press.
  • 2017. Ken Carter and Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay "Governance for the Rural Knowledge Economy" in Alex Marland Lisa Moore edited, Improving Democratic Governance in Newfoundland and Labrador, ISE, Canada..
  • 2016. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, "Protracted Displacement in Conflict Zones: Refugees and Internally Displaced People in Jammu and Kashmir", Migration, Mobility, & Displacement, vol. 2 (2): 91-109.
  • 2016. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay and Russell Williams, Academic Editors, Special Issue, "Supranational Institutions and Governance in an Era of Uncertain Norms", Politics and Governance, Vol 4, No 3 (2016)           
  • 2016. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay and Russell Williams, "Norms, Institutions and Governance in an Era of Uncertainty: Connecting the Disparate Scholarship", Politics and Governance, Vol 4, No 3: 1-4.
  • 2015. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, "Kashmir’s Contentious Politics: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same", in Paul Wallace edited book, India’s 2014 Elections: Modi-led BJP Sweep, Sage Publications, forthcoming, May-June.
  • 2014. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, "The Diasporic Identity and Globalization: New Cultural Politics in Hindi Cinema" in Neelam Trivedi etc edited Perspectives on governance and society: essays in honour of Professor O.P. Dwivedi, Rawat Publications, Jaipur, India, pp.  91-107.  
  • 2013. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay with Josephine Smart and Mostaem Billah, "Labor Migration, Citizenship, and Social Welfare in China and India", in Douglas Besharov and Karen Baehler edited, Chinese Social Policy in a Time of Transition, Oxford University Press, pp.
  • 2012. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, "Beyond Parochialism and Domestic Preoccupation: the current state of comparative politics in Canada", Canadian Journal of Political Science, Volume 45/Issue 04; pp. 741-756.
  • 2011. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay and Amanda Bittner "Newfoundland and Labrador: Creating Change in the Twenty-First Century", in John Biles, Meyer Burstein, James Frideres, Erin Tolley, and Robert Vineberg edited, Integration and Inclusion of Newcomers and Minorities across Canada, Queen's Policy Studies Series, McGill-Queen’s University Press, Montreal & Kingston, Chapter 11, pp. 325–354.
  • 2009. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay "Kashmir's Secessionist Movement Resurfaces: Ethnic Identity, Community Competition, and the State", Asian Survey, Vol. 49, No. 6, pp.924-950.
  • 2008. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, edited, Asia: Local and Global Perspectives: Selected Articles from the Conference of the Canadian Asian Studies Association 2006, Montreal: Canadian Asian Studies Association (Conference Proceedings).
  • 2008. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, James Kelly, Jean Mayer and Michael Lipson, Human Rights: Global and Canadian Perspectives, Thompson Nelson Canada,
  • 2008. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay and Julian Schofield "Why Pakistan Failed: Tribal Focoism in Kashmir", Small Wars and Insurgencies, Vol. 19, Issue 1, pp.22-38.
  • 2008. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay and Csaba Nikoleyni, "Global Conflict and Conflict Resolution: Alternative Strategies of Governance" in  Dhirender Vajpeyi and Renu Khator edited, Globalization, Governance, and Technology: Challenges and Alternative” Deep and Deep Publishers, New Delhi, Chapter 12. 
  • 2007, Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, Csaba Nikolenyi, Andre Lecours, Bassel Saloukh and Francesca Scala, Mapping the Political Landscape: An Introduction to Political Science, Thompson Nelson Canada Second Edition.
  • 2007. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay "Identity and Nationalism: Where are Women in Kashmiri Politics?" in Speaking Across Borders: Women and Peacebuilding in India and Pakistan”  editors Shree Mulay and Jackie Kirk edited, Antham Press: A Publishing Unit of Wimbledon Publishing Company,  Delhi, pp. 111 -132.
  • 2005. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay and Julian Schofield, "Institutional Causes of Indo-Pakistani Rivalry" In T.V. Paul edited, The Indian Pakistan Conflict: An Enduring Rivalry, Cambridge University Press, pp. 225-250.
  • 2005. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, "Afghanistan: Multicultural Federalism as a Means to Achieve Democracy, Representation and Stability" in Sid Noel Edited, Power Sharing in Ethnically Divided Societies, Studies in Nationalism and Conflict Series, McGill Queen's Press, pp. 190-214.
  • 2005. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, "Kashmir" Encyclopaedia of India, (editor Stanley Wolpert) Scribner and Thompson Gale, 4000 words.
  • 2005. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, "Jammu and Ladakh" Encyclopaedia of India, (editor Stanley Wolpert) Scribner and Thompson Gale, 2000 words.
  • 2004. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, Csaba Nikolenyi, Andre Lecours, Bassel Saloukh and Francesca Scala, Mapping the Political Landscape: An Introduction to Political Science, Thompson Nelson Canada
  • 2004. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, "Dogris" Encyclopaedia of Minorities, Routledge.
  • 2003. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, "Recent Developments and Debates in Local government in India" in Dhirender Vajpeyi edited, Local Democracy and Politics in South Asia: Towards internal decolonization? Leske+ Budrich, Opladen, Germany, pp. 47-66.
  • 2003. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, "Canada and India: Broadening and Deepening Relationship" in Canada in Asia: Foreign Policy Dialogue Series, 2003-2004, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, Vancouver.
  • 2003. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, "Globalization and Indian Federalism" in B.D. Dua and M.P. Singh edited, Indian Federalism in the New Millennium” Manohar Publishers, New Delhi, pp. 335-350.
  • 2003, Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, Csaba Nikolenyi and Louise Otmar, "Peace and Conflict: Alternative Strategies of Governance and Conflict Resolution" Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, vol. 5, pp. 123-146.
  • 2003. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, "Pervez Musharraf" Encyclopaedia on World Terrorism, M.E. Sharpe.
  • 2003. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay "Responses to the Parliamentary & Assembly Elections in Kashmir Valley, Ladakh and the Jammu Region and the State-societal Relations" in Ramashray Roy and Paul Wallace edited, 1999 Elections and Politics in India, Sage Publications, pp. 391-424.
  • 2002. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, "Kashmir Conflict: Secessionist Movement, Mobilization and Political Institutions", Pacific Affairs, Vol. 74, No. 4, Winter, pp. 569-577.
  • 2002. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, "Shared Sovereignty: Lesson from Indian Experience", in Guiesppe Casale, Europe: Toward What Kind of Integration? University ofGenoa, Italy, 2002, pp. 480-489.
  • 2002. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, "After Bonn Accord: Is Federalism Relevant to Afghanistan’s Future" Federations: What’s New in Federalism Worldwide, Forum for Federation, Ottawa, Vol. 2, No. 2. February.
  • 2002. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay and Julian Schofied, "The Future Face of Security in South Asia" in David Mutimer edited, Canadian International Security Policy: Reflections For A New Era Centre for International Security Studies, York University, Toronto, pp. 61-78.
  • 2001. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, "A Federal Arrangement for Afghanistan" Federations: What’s New in Federalism Worldwide, Special Issue on Afghanistan Forum for Federation, Ottawa, November.
  • 2001. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, "Diasporic Indian Identity and Bollywood", Kala, Special Issue, Fall.
  • 2001. Reeta Chowdahri Tremblay "Globalization and Indian Federalism" in Indian Journal of Public Administration, Vol.  XLVII, No. 2 April-June, pp. 208-221.
  • 2001. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay and Julian Schofield, "Hybrid Governments and Pakistan: Nuclear Weapons and the Conflict over Kashmir" Aakrosh, Asian Journal on International Terrorism and Conflicts, Volume 4, #11, April, pp. 13–41.
  • 2001. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay "Kashmir and Indo-US Relations" in Kapoor, Malik and Gould edited, India and the United States in a Changing World, Sage Publishers, New Delhi, 2001, pp 499-532.
  • 2000. Hugh Johnston, Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay and John R. Wood, edited. South Asia: Between Turmoil and Hope, South Asia Council of Canadian Asian Studies and Shastri Indo Canadian Institue, Burnaby, B.C. Simon Fraser University (Conference Proceedings).
  • 2000. Arthur G. Rubinoff and Reeta C. Tremblay, "Different Responses to Ethnicity: Goa and Kashmir", in Johnston, Tremblay and Wood edited, South Asia: Between Turmoil and Hope, pp. 163‑182. Council of Canadian Asian Studies and Shastri Indo‑Canadian Institute, Burnaby, B.C. Simon Fraser University.
  • 1999. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay "Inclusive Administration: Feminist Critiques of Bureaucracy" in Keith Henderson and O.P. Dwivedi ed. Bureaucracy and Alternatives in World Perspectives, MacMillan Press, pp. 69-94.
  • 1999. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay "Elections in Kashmir: An Exercise in Pragmatism" in Wallace and Roy, 1998 Elections and Politics of India, Sage Publications, 1999, pp. 309-339.
  • 1999. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay and Julian Schofield, "Crisis in Kashmir: Role of the UNMOGIP", Peacekeeping and International Relations, Pearson Institute of Peace Studies, January, pp. 14-16.
  • 1999. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay and Anne Marie Field, Citizenship, Identity, Multiculturalism and State Policy: A Bibliography, Center for Research and Social Transformation, Montreal.
  • 1998. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay "Representation and Governance: Women and Self-Government in India", Indian Journal of Public Administration, Special Issue on Good Governance, Vol. XL1V; 3, July-September: 454-467.
  • 1998. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay "Shared Sovereignty and Federalism: Some Conceptual Arguments" in Interfacing Nations, B.R. Publishers, New Delhi, pp. 195-204.
  • 1998. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay "Beyond Society-Centred and State-Centred Models: A Retrospective Public Policy Analysis" Indian Journal of Public Administration, Jan-March, pp. 874-890.
  • 1998. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay with O.P. Dwivedi, Carole Farbers edited, Interfacing Nations: Indo/Pakistani/Canadian Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of India’s Independence, B.R. Publishing Corporation, New Delhi
  • 1997. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay "Nagpur Resolution: Re-distributive Agenda and Limits on the Autonomy of a Democratic State" in Perspectives on South Asia at the Threshold of the 21st Century, Canadian Association for Asian Studies, University of Montreal, pp. 487-505
  • 1997. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay "Growth with Justice: Understanding Poverty", in C. Steven La Rue ed. Regional Handbook of Economic Development, Vol. 1; India: Prospects into the 21st Century, Fitzroy Dearborn Publisher, Chicago, pp. 87-102.
  • 1997. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay "Living Multiculturally in a Federal India" in C. Steven La rue ed. Regional Handbook of Economic Development; Vol. 1; India: Prospects into the 21st Century, Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago, pp.158-169.
  • 1997. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay "Nation, Identity and the Intervening Role of the State: A Study of the Secessionist Movement in Kashmir", Pacific Affairs, Vol. 69, No.4, winter 1996-97, pp. 471-498.
  • 1997. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay edited, Perspectives on South Asia at the Threshold of the 21st Century, Canadienne Des Etudes Asiatiques, University De Montreal, (Conference Proceedings).
  • 1996. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay “Representation of Self and Society in Bombay Cinema"  Contemporary South Asia, Vol 5 No.3 October, pp.295-308.
  • 1995. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay "Kashmir: The Valley's Political Dynamics" Contemporary South Asia, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Kashmir Special Issue), March, pp. 79-101.
  • 1994. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay "Responses to Samir Amin's Analyses of Eurocentrism Meet Western Cultural Theory: Global Polarization and Cultural Materialism by Sandra Langley" in Undiscipilined: An Interdisciplinary Journal, Graduate Students Association, Concordia University, pp 171-172.
  • 1994. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay "Crisis of Indian Federalism" in South Asia Horizons, edited by Elliot Tepper and John Wood, South Asia Council, Canadian Asian Studies Association, Ottawa, pp. 323-336.
  • 1992. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay “Jammu: Autonomy within an Autonomous Kashmir” in Raju G.C. Thomas edited Perspectives on Kashmir: the Roots of Conflict in South Asia, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, pp.153-167.
  • 1991. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, State Autonomy and Public Policy in India, National Book Publications, New Delhi, India.

Book reviews

  • 2018. Suvir Kaul’s Of Gardens And Graves: Kashmir, Poetry, Politics. Pacific Affairs
  • 2015. T.V. Paul’s The Warrior State: Pakistan in the Contemporary World, International Journal, vo. 70, no. 2, pp. 363-365.
  • 2014. T.V. Paul’s The Warrior State: Pakistan in the Contemporary World, International Journal, Vol 70, #2. 
  • 2008. Martha Nussbaum's The Clash Within: Democracy, Religious Violence, and India's Future (Harvard, 2007), Canadian Institute of International Affairs' International Journal, Summer, pp. 792 -794.
  • 2008. Waheguru Pal Singh Sidhu, Bushra Asif, Cyrus Samii, Ediors  KASHMIR: New Voices, New Approaches. (Boulder (Colorado), London (England): Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2006), Pacific Affairs, Volume 81, No.3, Fall.
  • 2006. Rajesh Tandon and Ranjita Mohanty, Does Civil Society Matter? Governance in Contemporary India (Sage 2003), Canadian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 39, #2.
  • 2005. Robert Wirsing, Kashmir in the Shadow of Nuclear War and Santhram etc. Jihadis in Jammu and Kashmir, Pacific Affairs, vol. 77, No. 4, 2004-2005.
  • 2004. Barbara Harriss-White, India Working: essays on society and economy. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), Political Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 1.
  • 1996. Tahir Amin, Mass Resistance in Kashmir: Origins, Evolution, Options. (Islamabad: Institute of Policy Studies, 1995) in Pacific Affairs, Fall, Vol. 69, No. 3, pp. 438-439.
  • 1996. David Waller, The Pundits: The British Exploration of Tibet and Central Asia (Lexington: University press of Kentucky, 1990) in Pacific Affairs, Fall, Vol. 69, No. 3, pp, 443-444.
  • 1995. D. Savoie, Thatcher, Regan, Mulroney: In Search of A New Bureaucracy (Toronto; University of Toronto Press, 1994) in Canadian Journal of Political Science, xxviii:4, December, pp.767-768.
  • 1993. Akbar S. Ahmad, Resistance and Control of Pakistan (London: Routledge, 1991) in The Journal of Commonwealth and Contemporary Politics November, pp. 395-396.
  • 1992. D.A. Low, The Political Inheritance of Pakistan (Cambridge University Press, 1991) in the Journal of Comparative and Commonwealth Studies November, pp. 407-408.
  • 1992. Yogendra K. Malik ed. India: Culture and Society: Boeings and Bullock-Carts: Studies in Change and Continuity in Indian Civilization Vol. 1, and Vol. 3 (New Delhi: Chanakya Publications, 1990) in Pacific Affairs, Summer, pp. 281-282.
  • 1991. Hans J. Michelmann and Panayotis Soldatas eds., Federalism and International Relations (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990) in Canadian Journal of Political Science, December, pp.865-866.
  • 1991. Baldev Raj Nayar, The Political Economy of India’s Public Sector in The Journal of Comparative and Commonwealth Studies, November, pp. 395-396.

Policy commentaries

Policy analysis on South Asia (online publications)

  • April 13, 2016. "Delivering in Jammu and Kashmir: Uneasy lies ahead that wears the crown", South Asia Monitor, Spotlight.
  • April 4, 2016 "Mehbooba’s difficult challenges," KashmirConnected.
  • December 27, 2015. "Canada Welcomes Syrian Refugees: Welcome Departure From US Security Obsession – Analysis". Eurasiareview.
  • October 23, 2015 "A new liberal Canada will push ties with India". South Asia Monitor. 
  • Jul 6, 2015 "Time to throw out draconian AFSPA from J & K", South Asia Monitor. 
  • June 3, 2015. "Modi's one year: Walking tightrope between economic and social agendas", South Asia Monitor.
  • April 19, 2015. "Modi’s Canada visit: A page-turner in ties", Modi’s Three Nation Tour, South Asia Monitor.
  • April 18, 2015 "Modi's visit brought Indo-Canadians into national spotlight". The Indian Diaspora.
  • March 31, 2015 "Modi’s visit to Canada: Building on Optimism", South Asia Monitor.
  • March 3, 2015. "Jammu and Kashmir: A vote for inclusive development", South Asia Monitor.