By The Catalyst Editorial Board.
Last week, our team met with Weeam Ben Rejeb to talk about her upcoming article “Disasters as Opportunities: The Disaster Capitalism Pitfall” in the Spring 2019 edition of Chrysalis. Her article explores the ways in which disaster relief has become characterized by capitalist ventures. If you are interested in her article, you can watch her thesis video, where she explains it in length.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noB8UGiuisM&w=560&h=315]Weeam is an international development studies and sociology major born in Montreal but raised in Ottawa. She has found an interest in the ways society, economic development and politics intersect, for her this is the main factor that affects both nations and individuals. Moreover, she has been involved in the Junior Peacemaker program with IRSAM and McMun. In addition, Weeam had the opportunity to work as a Parliament guide, which gave her the opportunity to meet Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, and Julie Payette, the Governor General of Canada.
She has worked with Jan Doering, an Assistant Professor in the department of Sociology focusing his research on race and migration, in transcribing interviews pertaining to how Muslims are portrayed in Quebec politics. In addition, she will begin to work very shortly with Professor Jennifer Elrick, an Assistant Professor in the department of Sociology who also focuses on race and immigration, where they will be looking at immigration documents and archives to link who gets deported and who stays.
As a sociology major, she has often learned about theories and ideologies, which has shaped her interest in how capitalism and socialism affect politics. Weeam saw her course on disaster as an opportunity to explore the extent to which capitalism affect disaster relief, the extent to which it has infiltrated all aspect of life. Given the increasing number of disasters that arises, she felt it was important to explore what happens after a disaster. Due to the general lack of awareness on this topic, Weeam wanted to expose the reality of disaster relief.
Upon graduating from McGill, Weeam hopes to either pursue a legal education or pursue a master’s in public policy. She is considering a career in public policy in Canada, or a career in international development.
You can find Weeam’s article here.
