About Lavinia Stan

A graduate in Political Science at the University of Toronto, I was born in Romania but emigrated to Canada shortly after the December 1989 revolution that helped Romania move away from communist dictatorship. Most of my work has dealt with broad issues of post-communist democratization, transitional justice, as well as religion and politics. I have taught at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Canada for more than twenty years, also serving as vice-president and president of the Society for Romanian Studies, Associate Editor of East European Politics & Societies and Women's Studies International Forum, and editorial board member of more than twenty scholarly journals in North America and Europe. Most of my work in transitional justice has been published with Cambridge University Press, including the 3-volume Encyclopedia of Transitional Justice (first published in 2013, and now in production again). My books on religion and politics have appeared with Oxford University Press, and focus a lot on Orthodoxy and democratization. I am living in Montreal, but have a summer residence in Puglia, Italy, with olive and fig trees, close to the Torre Guacetto beach.

Lavinia Stan is a professor of political science at St. Francis Xavier University in Canada.

Lavinia's website

NBN Episodes hosted by Lavinia:

Ryan Manucha, "Booze, Cigarettes, and Constitutional Dust-Ups: Canada's Quest for Interprovincial Free Trade" (McGill-Queen's UP, 2022)

February 14, 2024

Booze, Cigarettes, and Constitutional Dust-Ups

Ryan Manucha
Hosted by Lavinia Stan

Today I talked to Ryan Manucha about his new book Booze, Cigarettes, and Constitutional Dust-Ups: Canada's Quest for Interprovincial Free Trade (McGil…

David C. Young et al., "Policy Matters: Perspectives, Procedures, and Processes" (Emerald Publishing, 2023)

February 9, 2024

Policy Matters

David C. Young, Robert E. White, and Monica A. Williams
Hosted by Lavinia Stan

Never have policy initiatives been so important than in today’s society. Neoliberal manifestations, climate change, civil rights movements, and govern…

Jan Selling, "Romani Liberation: A Northern Perspective on Emancipatory Struggles and Progress" (Central European UP, 2022)

November 5, 2023

Romani Liberation

Jan Selling
Hosted by Lavinia Stan

Well-known for his work in Critical Romani Studies, Jan Selling talks with Lavinia Stan about his latest book. Centered on Scandinavia, Romani Liberat…

Cheryl Lawther and Luke Moffett, "Research Handbook on Transitional Justice" (Edward Elgar, 2023)

October 31, 2023

Research Handbook on Transitional Justice

Cheryl Lawther and Luke Moffett
Hosted by Lavinia Stan
Listen:

Listen to this engaging interview with Cheryl Lawther, who talks about why the Research Handbook on Transitional Justice (Edward Elgar, 2023) is one o…

Luke Moffett, "Reparations and War: Finding Balance in Repairing the Past" (Oxford UP, 2023)

October 27, 2023

Reparations and War

Luke Moffett
Hosted by Lavinia Stan

For thousands of years, reparations have been used to secure the end of war and to alleviate its deleterious consequences. While human rights law esta…

Tom Gallagher, "Europe's Leadership Famine: Portraits of Defiance and Decay 1950-2022" (Scotview, 2023)

October 16, 2023

Europe's Leadership Famine

Tom Gallagher
Hosted by Lavinia Stan
Listen:

Today I talked to Tom Gallagher about his new book Europe's Leadership Famine: Portraits of Defiance and Decay 1950-2022 (Scotview, 2023). Representa…

Aurelian Craiutu, "Faces of Moderation: The Art of Balance in an Age of Extremes" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2017)

February 19, 2023

Faces of Moderation

Aurelian Craiutu
Hosted by Lavinia Stan

By examining the writings of twentieth-century thinkers such as Raymond Aron, Isaiah Berlin, Norberto Bobbio, Michael Oakeshott, and Adam Michnik, Pro…

Adam Lajeunesse, "Lock, Stock, and Icebergs: A History of Canada's Arctic Maritime Sovereignty" (UBC Press, 2016)

January 21, 2023

Lock, Stock, and Icebergs

Adam Lajeunesse
Hosted by Lavinia Stan

In April 1988, after years of failed negotiations over the status of the Northwest Passage, Brian Mulroney gave Ronald Reagan a globe, pointed to the …

Ruti G. Teitel, "Transitional Justice" (Oxford UP, 2000)

December 4, 2022

Transitional Justice

Ruti G. Teitel
Hosted by Lavinia Stan

Societies that are throwing off the yoke of authoritarian rule and beginning to build democracies face a daunting question: should they punish the rep…

Igor Shoikhedbrod, "Revisiting Marx’s Critique of Liberalism: Rethinking Justice, Legality and Rights" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021)

November 14, 2022

Revisiting Marx’s Critique of Liberalism

Igor Shoikhedbrod
Hosted by Lavinia Stan

Is Marx relevant today, after the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe? Is Marx’s political theory compatible with individual rights? You will be s…

Cynthia M. Horne, "Building Trust and Democracy: Transitional Justice in Post-Communist Countries" (Oxford UP, 2017)

August 24, 2022

Building Trust and Democracy

Cynthia M. Horne
Hosted by Lavinia Stan

It has become both a normative expectation as well as a practical policy recommendation that context-specific transitional justice measures are needed…