Garance Robert
PhD Candidate in Political Science
I am currently pursuing a PhD in Political Science at the Université de Montréal, under the supervision of Françoise Montambeault (UdeM) and co-supervision of Delphine Lacombe (CNRS, France). My dissertation focuses on activist uses of human rights discourse in Guatemala and Nicaragua, in authoritarian or semi-authoritarian contexts, through a comparative perspective. Prior to this, in 2013, I obtained a Master's degree in Social Sciences from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), with a specialization in Political Studies. My thesis, supervised by Gilles Bataillon, explored the use of human rights discourse by Nicaraguan political actors during the Sandinista revolution (1979–1988). It was at that time that I began to develop a strong interest in social mobilization dynamics, human rights, and repressive contexts in Latin America.
I am currently in the writing phase of my doctoral research. I have been awarded a postdoctoral fellowship by the FRQSC for the period 2026–2028, which begins in March 2026. This fellowship will allow me to pursue my research for two years under the academic supervision of Professor Alison Brysk, Professor of Global Governance and Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), and a renowned specialist in human rights. This new research project will examine the appropriation and instrumentalization of human rights discourse by (ultra)conservative political actors in Guatemala, particularly through the use of anti-gender rhetoric. I also served as the coordinator of ERIGAL from 2021 to 2024, and as a lecturer for an undergraduate course in Latin American politics in 2023 and 2024. I am affiliated with several research groups, notably the Canada Research Chair in Participation and Citizenship(s), the Human Rights Observatory of CERIUM, and the Center for Mexican and Central American Studies (CEMCA) based in Mexico City.
Languages : French, Spanish, English, Portuguese
PhD Candidate in Political Science at Université de Montréal Main research areas
- Human Rights
- Legal mobilization
- Social Mouvements
- Historical approach
Publications
(à paraître 2025) Robert, Garance et Andréanne Brunet-Bélanger « Displacing the Social Construction of Indigenous Citizenship at the International Level: Comparing Guatemala and Paraguay » dans Montambeault, F. et T. Hilgers (dir.) Still the Era of Neopluralism? Civil Society, Citizenship and Democracy in Latin America and Beyond, McGill Press.
Robert, Garance (2022) « Liberté d’expression en Amérique centrale : entre criminalisation de l’État et défense d’un droit humain », dans Andrea Cabezas-Vargas et Sophie Large, Libertad de expresión y de creación en el istmo centroaméricano, Ed. Orbis Tertius, Col. Universitas, 2022.
Website
https://www.linkedin.com/in/garance-robert-584359212/