This summer, I had the pleasure of assisting Professor Yann Allard-Tremblay with a chapter in his book project, titled 鈥淥n Being Repeatedly Gobsmacked: Crises, White Ignorance, and Normalizing Western Civilization鈥檚 Death Path鈥�.
The chapter challenges the recurring Global North claim that events such as climate change, democratic backsliding, and neo-fascism are 鈥榰nprecedented鈥� crises alien to Western Civilization鈥檚 self-conception. While their urgency is not minimized, the argument is that framing them as 鈥榚xceptional鈥� obscures that Indigenous and colonized thinkers have long identified such catastrophes as the predictable outcomes of Western Civilization鈥檚 normal operations and have experienced similar 鈥榗rises鈥� over and over again since colonization. This crisis framing is commonly sustained by a narrow presentist focus, the experiences of the privileged few, and historical amnesia鈥攁 function of what Charles Mills terms 鈥淲hite Ignorance鈥�. Drawing on voices across several centuries, this chapter shows that critiques of Western Civilization鈥檚 鈥淒eath Path鈥� have been voiced for centuries but are continually sidelined.
Professor Allard-Tremblay鈥檚 political theory classes were among the first to tangibly make me see that, once viewed from a different lens, many political ideas we deem as 鈥榞ood鈥� or foundational carry harmful implications. What made his chapter interesting to me is that it is not yet another critique of the deniers or perpetrators of climate change, neo-fascism, and democratic backsliding, but rather calls out our tendency to elevate these issues while dangerously obscuring the voices who have been warning of them all along. The implications are sobering while one group has long been enlightened about how to address these problems, their solutions are denied repeatedly because adopting them would require dismantling the very power structures that keep those doing the obscuring in power.
My main objective was to learn from Professor Allard-Tremblay鈥檚 ability to see through conventional wisdom and question political dynamics we often take for granted. Since I hope to turn my love of writing into a career in either academia or journalism, developing a sharp critical perspective is something I continually strive for鈥攁nd my supervisor could not have been a better mentor in this regard. I also sought to learn how academic research is properly conducted: using a shared Zotero bibliography, finding sources through creative methods, and skimming books more effectively. Along the way, I confronted the challenges of research, including spending more time discarding sources than collecting them, accepting the slow pace of the process, and learning that not meeting weekly objectives can still mean making meaningful progress. Ultimately, the highlight of my summer was contributing to a book project I have come to care about deeply while sharpening the critical perspective I hope to carry forward in my own writing.
Finally, I am thankful for the funds I received from both my supervisor and the Dean of Arts Development Fund, which allowed me the stability and time to focus on more fully on the research experience. Just as importantly, the award also enabled me to save toward my further studies, ensuring that the growth I experienced this summer feeds directly into my long-term goals. In this way, the award鈥檚 impact extends well beyond the internship itself.