The Knowledge Synthesis Project “Political Contestation about International Economic Agreements: Lessons for the Canada-UK Trade Relationship after Brexit” examines under which circumstances international trade and investment agreements become politically contentious, and which best practices exist for channeling such contention into evidence-based and impactful policy debates.

The research team for this project is constituted by Achim Hurrelmann (Carleton University) and Ece Özlem Atikcan (University of Warwick/UK) as principal investigators, as well as Crina Viju-Miljusevic (Carleton University) and Adam Chalmers (King’s College London/UK). The project is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) of the United Kingdom (see official funding announcement here).

The project released a Knowledge Synthesis Report on December 12, 2018:

Hurrelmann, Achim, Ece Özlem Atikcan, Adam William Chalmers and Crina Viju-Miljusevic. (2018). Political Contestation about International Economic Agreements: Lessons for the Canada-UK Trade Relationship after Brexit. Final Report for the SSHRC/ESRC Knowledge Synthesis Grant Initiative “Understanding the Future of Canada-UK Trade Relationships.” Ottawa, Warwick and London, November 30, 2018.

The project results were also summarized in a scholarly article:

Hurrelmann, Achim, Ece Özlem Atikcan, Adam William Chalmers and Crina Viju-Miljusevic. (2019). “Political Controversy about international Economic Agreements: Lessons for Canada–UK Trade Negotiations after Brexit”, International Journal, Vol. 74, Issue 3, pp. 453-462.

Results of the project were presented at a policy workshop held at Carleton University on Monday, February 4, 2019. Click here for the program of the workshop.