Keith Davey Event: A statement from Political Science Chair, Antoinette Handley

October 5, 2017

Yesterday afternoon, the Department of Political Science, Victoria College and the Association of Political Science Students (APSS) at the University of Toronto co-hosted the annual Keith Davey Forum on the topic “Social Inequality: Is it a real problem? Can it be solved?” The phrasing of the topic as well as the constitution of the panel was, as many of you know, the subject of a great deal of comment and concern. I share many of those concerns. In particular, the first question in the Forum title was open to being read as a challenge to the reality of inequality. This was never the intention of the organisers but we very much regret the hurt that nonetheless resulted. As the new chair of Political Science at the University of Toronto, I am committed to ensuring that that these concerns are considered in planning future events. I look forward to a discussion with my faculty colleagues and with the co-sponsors of the event about how we might do that.

Antoinette Handley
Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science
University of Toronto