S. Laurel Weldon is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

and American

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

, currently a Distinguished Professor of Political Science at

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

. She is a democratic and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

theorist, known for studies of the cross-national evolution of

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

, policies on the prevention of

violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence (GBV) or sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), violent, violence primarily committed by Man, men or boys against woman, women or girls. Such violence is often considered hat ...

, and the inclusion of women in political decision-making. Weldon's work has been noted for contributing to both substantive

political theory Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and legitimacy of political institutions, such as states. This field investigates different forms of government, ranging from d ...

and

empirical methods Empirical research is research using empirical evidence. It is also a way of gaining knowledge by means of direct and indirect observation or experience. Empiricism values some research more than other kinds. Empirical evidence (the record of o ...

Education

Weldon's mother, Sirje Weldon, was the Atlantic regional director for the Canadian Bankers Association, and her father, K. Laurence Weldon, was a professor of

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...

at Simon Fraser University. Weldon attended Simon Fraser University, graduating in 1991 with a BA in political science and sociology and a minor in philosophy. She then completed an MA in political science at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

in 1992, and a PhD in political science at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

in 1999, where she was advised by Iris Marion Young.

Career

After graduating with a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh, Weldon moved to

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

in 1999. She soon published the 2002 book ''Protest, Policy and the Problem of Violence Against Women'', as well as a series of widely cited cross-national studies on violence against women and women's political participation. In 2011, Weldon published the book ''When Protest Makes Policy: How Social Movements Represent Disadvantaged Groups'', which studied the role of

social movement A social movement is either a loosely or carefully organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a Social issue, social or Political movement, political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to re ...

s in democracy through several case studies on American social movements. This work provided evidence that social movements can be an effective means for systematically

disadvantaged The "disadvantaged" is a generic term for individuals or groups of people who: * Face special problems such as physical disability, physical or mental disorder, mental disability * Lack money or economic supportKingdom of Nepal: Economic and Soc ...

groups to promote their collective aims, and that in some cases strong social movements can provide more effective safeguards against negative political outcomes than the official inclusion of group members in formal institutions like

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

s. The book won the

American Political Science Association The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political scientists in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, it publishes four ...

's 2012 Victoria Schuck Award for the best book published on women and politics. In 2013, Weldon was a co-editor of the first ''Oxford Handbook on Politics and Gender''. Weldon's third book was coauthored with

Mala Htun Mala Nani Htun (August 23, 1969 – January 24, 2025) was an American political scientist. She was a professor of political science at the University of New Mexico. Htun studied comparative politics, particularly women's rights and the politi ...

and published in 2018; in ''The Logics of Gender Justice: State Action on Women’s Rights Around the World'', Weldon and Htun studied the evolution of women's rights issues such as family law, abortion, paid parental leave, and contraception from 1975 to 2005. Weldon and Htun received the Human Rights Best Book Award for 2019 from the

International Studies Association The International Studies Association (ISA) is a US-based professional association for scholars and practitioners in the field of International relations, international studies. Founded in 1959, ISA has been headquartered at the University of Con ...

. Weldon has been a consultant for international organisations including the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

and the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

. She has also been a lead reviewer for selective political science journals: she is part of the 2020-2024 editorial leadership of the

American Political Science Review The ''American Political Science Review'' (''APSR'') is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all areas of political science. It is an official journal of the American Political Science Association and is published on their behalf ...

, and was a founding co-editor of the Western Political Science Association journal ''Politics, Groups, and Identities''. Weldon's work has been noted for contributing to diverse subfields, particularly for developing political theory while also contributing new ideas in how to study political phenomena with rigorous empirical methods. In 2018, Weldon moved to Simon Fraser University from Purdue University, where she had been a Distinguished Professor and the Director of the Purdue Policy Research Institution. In 2020, Weldon was inducted in the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

Books

* ''Protest, Policy and the Problem of Violence Against Women'' (2002) * ''When Protest Makes Policy: How Social Movements Represent Disadvantaged Groups'' (2011) * ''The Logics of Gender Justice: State Action on Women’s Rights Around the World'', with Mala Htun (2018)

Awards

*Victoria Schuck Award, American Political Science Association (2012) *Human Rights Best Book Award, International Studies Association (2019) *Fellow, Royal Society of Canada (2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weldon, S. Laurel Living people Date of birth missing (living people) Canadian women academics Academic staff of Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University alumni University of Pittsburgh alumni University of British Columbia alumni American women political scientists American political scientists Canadian political scientists Year of birth missing (living people) American women academics 21st-century American women