Dr. Justin Leifso

Assistant professor

Political Science

Contact:

Office: DTB A342 leifso@uvic.ca

Credentials:

PhD (U of Alberta)

Area of expertise:

Canadian politics, Canadian public policy, neoliberalism

Office hours

Summer 2024 office hours: by appointment

Interests

• Canadian politics
• Canadian public policy
• neoliberalism
• federalism
• governance in Canada

About Dr. Leifso

Justin Leifso received his PhD and MA from the University of Alberta and his BA (High Honours) from the University of Regina. He grew up on Treaty 4 Territory, in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Before pursuing an academic career, he served as a public servant in Saskatchewan where he was worked for the Ministry of Health and the Office of the Provincial Auditor. 

He is a scholar and teacher of Canadian politics. His research explores the relationship between broad discursive formations and specific practices. In other words, he studies power, policy and politics in Canada. He has written about the history of bureaucracy in Canada, the emergence of lean management in public sector organizations, policy mobility, parties and elections, the role of oil in the political identities of provinces such as Alberta and Saskatchewan, the political dimensions of affect and emotions and the politics of sport.  

Teaching

Dr. Leifso teaches courses on Canadian politics.

Teaching 2024-25

Fall 2024:

• POLI 101: Canadian Politics
• POLI 423/523: Neoliberal Canada (Seminar)

Spring 2025:

• POLI 368: Politics of Western Canada
• POLI 388: Politics of Sports

Publications

Refereed publications

• 2023. Justin Leifso "Lean on Everything? Lean Management’s Awkward Place in Neoliberalism." In Lois Harder, Catherine Kellogg and Steve Patten (eds.), Neoliberal Contentions: Diagnosing the Present. University of Toronto Press.
• 2023. Justin Leifso "Bureaucracies." In Janine Brodie, Sandra Rein, and Malinda S. Smith (eds.) Critical Concepts: An Introduction to Politics 6th ed. Oxford University Press.
• 2023. Justin Leifso and Daisy Raphael. "Elections and Electoral Systems" In Janine Brodie, Sandra Rein, and Malinda S. Smith (eds.) Critical Concepts: An Introduction to Politics 6th ed. Oxford University Press.
• 2023. Daisy Raphael, Justin Leifso and Janine Brodie. In Janine Brodie, Sandra Rein, and Malinda S. Smith (eds.) Critical Concepts: An Introduction to Politics 6th ed. Oxford University Press.
• 2021. Justin Leifso "Moving and Resisting Lean." Canadian Public Administration 64(4) (December 2021).
• 2020. Anya Kuteleva and Justin Leifso. "Contested crude: Multiscalar identities, conflicting discourses, and narratives of oil production in Canada." Energy Research and Social Science . Vol. 70.
• 2019. Justin Leifso "Saskatchewan, Political Despair, and the Affective Politics of the Rider Nation." Sociology of Sport Vol. 36, No. 1, pp 48-56.

Non-refereed publication

• John D Whyte and Justin Leifso. 2006. "Coming to the End: Mandatory Retirement in Saskatchewan" in Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy Briefing Note Issue 15, July 2006.

Conference papers

• Justin Leifso. "Neoliberal Expertise, Neoliberal Emotion: Taxing Carbon in Alberta." Presented at the Canadian Political Science Association Annual Conference, May 2022.
• Anya Kuteleva and Justin Leifso. "Images of China in Canada’s Discursive Politics of Energy." Presented at "Climate Change, Energy and Sustainability in the Pacific Region." Freiburg, Germany December 2021.
• Justin Leifso. "The Technical Fix? The Normative and Discursive Foundations of Canadian Public Bureaucracy." Presented at the Canadian Political Science Association Annual Conference, Regina SK June 2018.
• Justin Leifso. "Studying Policy Critically." Presented at the University of Alberta Graduate Students Association Annual Conference, Edmonton AB May 2018.
• Justin Leifso. "Green is the Colour: Brad Wall, the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and the Affective Politics of the 'Rider Nation.'" Presented at the Canadian Political Science Association Annual Conference, Toronto ON May 2017.
• Justin Leifso. "Lean on Everything: Neoliberalization and the Emergence of Lean Management in North America." Presented at Neoliberalism and its Crises: A Symposium in Honour of Janine Brodie, Edmonton AB May 2017.
• Marco Adria and Justin Leifso. "The Centre for Public Involvement and the City of Edmonton." Presented at the Participedia International Workshop, Vancouver BC June 2017.
• Justin Leifso. "Lean-ing In: A Case for Governmentality Approaches to Studying Public Bureaucracy." Presented at the Canadian Political Science Association Annual Conference, Calgary AB May 2016.
• Justin Leifso. "Lost in Translation: Implementing Lean Management in Saskatchewan's Healthcare System." Presented at Public Administration Theory Network Annual Conference. Vancouver, May 30 2016.
• Daisy Raphael, Drew Brown, and Justin Leifso. "'Did the Earth Move?': Gender, Sexuality and Nation in Political Cartoons of Canada et La Belle Province." Presented at the Canadian Political Science Association Annual Conference, Ottawa ON May 2015.
• Justin Leifso, "The New West Partnership and Canadian Regionalism." Presented at the British Association of Canadian Studies 2011 Annual Conference. Birmingham, UK April 2011.
• Justin Leifso. "Canadian Regionalism and the Territorial Trap." Presented at the Prairie Political Science Association 2010 Annual Conference. Winnipeg, MB October 2010.