Abstract

This paper contemplates changes in the content of harassment and discrimination policies at Canadian universities. I argue that changes in discourse surrounding harassment and discrimination issues within institutions are more than simple adjustments to changes in case law: these changes represent a potentially problematic backgrounding of human rights issues within institutions that is fuelled by the neoliberal social and political context in which policies are developed. The changes represent a re-inscription of hegemonic discourses on anti-harassment issues because they downplay the demands of marginalized groups based on their historical oppression in favour of reprivatized and neutralized approaches to issues of ‘personal security’ and ‘respectful workplaces’. These changes are influenced by a social context that favours individual responsibility and the rejection of demands of so-called ‘special interest groups’. I argue that this represents an example of the effect of the neoliberal turn in the Canadian social and political context.