Marguerite Mendell

Marguerite Mendell

Marguerite (Margie) Mendell, who earned her PhD in Economics from McGill University (1983), has been teaching at the SCPA since 1986. Her current research and teaching are on the social economy, alternative investment strategies, comparative community economic development, economic democracy, and the work of Karl Polanyi whose influence continues to grow today. Margie Mendell is participating in a growing international dialogue on innovative economic initiatives to reduce poverty and develop new collective forms of wealth creation through her participation at scholarly conferences and international meetings of the OECD and the ILO and civil society gatherings. She also participates in consultations in Canada (federal, provincial, municipal) and abroad (most recently at the European Union) on issues related to social and community based finance and the social and solidarity economy. Her work, published in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and most recently in Korean, has generated international interest. Dr. Mendell is also the co-founder of the Karl Polanyi Institute of Political Economy established at Concordia University in 1988.

Margie Mendell is a member of
theCentre de recherche sur les innovations sociales dans économie sociale, les entreprises et les syndicats (CRISES - UQAM); member of the Advisory Council of the B.C.-Alberta Research Alliance on the Social Economy (BALTA) and member of the Scientific Advisory Group on Social Economy and Social Innovation of the Trento Center for Local Development. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD-Paris), among others.

She is also a member of the Advisory Committee ofpolitiquesLes publiques  municipales of the Ville de Montréal, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Chantier de l'économie social.  As well, Margie Mendell is a member of the Editorial Committee of the journal Economie et Solidarité, and member of the Advisory Board of Studies in Political Economy, among others. She is a frequent contributor to television, radio and written media on public policy issues in Canada, Québec, and internationally.

Areas of research and teaching

Community Economic Development (comparative perspectives)

Social finance in Quebec and internationally
The social and solidarity economy including social enterprise (comparative perspectives)
Innovation in public policy formation
Economic democracy
Governance from theoretical and comparative perspectives
Social indicators
The life and work of Karl Polanyi