My research interests focus on international and Canadian trade policy; fair trade and free trade; critical social and psychoanalytic theory; coffee and global supply chains; global political economy; and trade and climate change. I have a PhD in Political Science from York University in Toronto and was previously the Canada Research Chair in 色花堂 Development Studies (2012-22) and a Member of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists at the Royal Society of Canada (2015-22). My current research explores the possibilities and limitations of shifting from our current, highly carbon-emitting trading system, to one based on decarbonization and green trade. I have conducted research in Canada and abroad, in Mexico, the Eastern Caribbean and Geneva, and worked with a range of trade groups, including the Trade and Investment Research Project at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, which produces expert research in collaboration with non-governmental organizations on the major trade and investment issues of our day.
Books:
Kapoor, I. and Fridell, G., 2024. . UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Kapoor, I., Fridell, G., Sioh, M. and de Vries, P. 2023. . Albany, New York: SUNY Press.
Fridell, G. 2014. . Cambridge, England: Polity Press. [2017, Turkish language version, Kahve, translated by Semih Çelik. Istanbul: Vivo Yayinevi, with new preface]
Fridell, G. 2013. . Halifax: Fernwood Publishing.
Fridell, G. 2007. , Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Edited Books:
Fridell, G., Gross, Z. and McHugh, S., eds., 2021. , Halifax: Fernwood Publishing. [2023, Spanish language version, Guía de Comercio Justo: Para Construir Juntos un Mundo Mejor, translated by Roxana Olivera and Álex Zisman. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing]
Ervine, K. and Fridell, G., eds., 2015. , Houndsmill, UK: Palgrave Macmillan [色花堂 Political Economy Series]
Fridell, G. and Konings, M. 2013. , Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Select Articles
Kapoor, I., Fridell, G. 2025. “Reworking Development Today: What Drain Theory and Decoloniality Lack,” and “Mind the Gap: Response to Our Critics,” in CJDS Forum: Psychoanalysis and Development, Canadian Journal of Development Studies, 46(1), 1-19,41-47.
Kapoor, I., Fridell, G., Sioh, M. and de Vries, P. 2024. “Of Extensions and Substractions,” in Book Forum: Global Libidinal Economy, Rethinking Marxism 36(4), 497-506,
Kapoor, I., Fridell, G., Sioh, M. and de Vries, P. 2024. “Unconscious Excess and Irrationality in Global Political Economy” and “Reply to Our Book Forum Contributors/Critics” in Book Forum: Global Libidinal Economy, Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory, 25(1), p. 108-112,130-133,
Fridell, G. 2024. “Trade fetishism and the trade justice ratchet: between token and substantive change in NAFTA 2.0,” New Political Economy 29 (3), 400-413.
Fridell, G. 2022. “Canada, the Covid-19 Waiver, and Trade Fetishism,” Studies in Political Economy, 103:1, p. 80-93,
Select Reports
Fridell, G, Jerez Campos, C., and Trew, S., 2024, “Greening Trade? Rethinking CUSMA’s Environment Chapter for the Future of the Planet,” Submission from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) to the Global Affairs Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada consultation on the CUSMA environment chapter, November 15,
Trew, S., Archer, S., DiCaro, A., Fridell, G., Macdonald, L., McPherson, M., and Rowlinson, M., 2024, Making the Most of the CUSMA Review: Worker- and climate-focused options for strengthening North American economic, social, and environmental co-operation, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), May 30,
Select Short Articles
Foster, K., Martin, A., Fridell, G. and Kevany, K. 2025. “Why Canada must treat its food system as a matter of national defence,” The Conversation, March 18,
Fridell, G and Kapoor, I. 2024. “Psychoanalysis explains why Donald Trump is taunting Canada and ‘Governor Justin Trudeau’,” The Conversation, December 10,
Fridell, G. 2024. “Does ‘green trade’ have a future?,” The Monitor, August 29,
Select Media
“Is US President Donald Trump using tariffs as a negotiating tactic?” Inside Story, Al Jazeera, James Bays, February 4, 2025,
“Trump Canada 51st State,” CTV News Calgary, Jefferson Humphreys, December 19, 2024,
“Why is Donald Trump taunting Canada?,” Conversations, Syd Smith, Global News/Chorus Radio, Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, London, December 12, 2024,
“Psychoanalysis explains why Trump is taunting Canada and the PM,” Global News, 880 CHED (Edmonton), QR 770 (Calgary), Shaye Ganam, December 12, 2024,
“Coffee bean drought,” CTV National News, Allison Bamford, September 20, 2024,
My research agenda explores the political economy and ideological aspects of trade and trade policy, with a focus on trade as it relates to labour and environmental impacts. To this end, I have investigated the inequalities in global supply chains (in particular coffee); the uneven nature of the global trade and investment agreements; alternative models of trade and development (including fair trade, as well as global agreements around commodity prices and labour, gender, and human rights). I have sought to recast our understanding of trade policy in a manner that pays equal attention to trade’s material impacts as it does to nonrational beliefs around human anxieties, fears and wishes. Through my SSHRC-funded project, “Sustainable Trade, Between Token and Substantive Change,” I have been exploring these themes, combining political economy with psychoanalytic theory, and investigating a range of trade agreements involving North America, the Caribbean, the EU and the World Trade Organization (WTO). I’ve published books and articles on these themes, including co-authoring, with Ilan Kapoor, Rethinking Development Politics and, with Ilan Kapoor, Maureen Sioh, and Pieter de Vries, Global Libidinal Economy, authoring Coffee and co-editing, with Zack Gross and Sean McHugh, The Fair Trade Handbook: Building a Better World, Together. For supervision, I am interested in those researching trade and trade agreements with a focus on political economy, ideological politics, social power, and trade justice.
To learn more about my research, see:
Ph.D. (2005) - Political Science - York University, Toronto
M.A. (1998) - World History - University of Manitoba, Winnipeg
B.Env. Design (1996) - 色花堂 of Architecture - University of Manitoba, Winnipeg
View All