Harini Sivalingam
Graduate Student
School of Law
McGill University
E/
harini.sivalingam@mail.mcgill.ca
Discourses of Fear and Victimization:
The Impact of National Security Legislation on the Tamil-Canadian
Community
Saturday, June 2nd
| 12:30 - 2:30 PM
This paper explores how legislative and policy making process impacts vulnerable community groups through an analysis of the discourses of fear and victimization. I intend to highlight concerns about the consequences of accepting dominant discourses of terrorism and security and to map out how laws and policies impact on the development of community groups and society as a whole. There are two important questions raised by my research. First, how does the dominant discourse on fear of terrorism in national security legislation impact on the victimization of community groups, such as Tamil-Canadians? And second, what methods should be employed by communities so that the cycle of fear and victimization can be broken and dominant discourses resisted?
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Harini Sivalingam obtained her LL.B. at Osgoode Hall Law School and was
called to the Ontario Bar in 2006. Harini is currently an LL.M.
Candidate at McGill University. Articling under the supervision of
Barbara Jackman, Jackman and Associates, Harini was involved in a
research on immigration and refugee matters. Pursuing her passion for
human rights, Harini participated in the internship program at the
International Service for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland. During
her internship with ISHR, Harini monitored United Nations meetings and
drafted analytical reports about human rights. Harini is involved in
anti-racism activism and community organizing in the Tamil-Canadian
community. In 2001 Harini attended the World Conference Against Racism
in Durban South Africa, as the youth representative for the Council of
Agencies Serving South Asians.