| Professor
BA in Political Science, University of Toronto
MA International Relations, University of Sussex, UK
PhD Political Science, Dalhousie University Office: ISW #7Phone: 457-6472E-mail: msvu.ca |
Dr. Ralston is a member of the Department of Women’s Studies and is
cross-appointed with the Department of Political Studies. Also a
documentary filmmaker since 1995, Dr. Ralston’s latest documentary,
Hope in Heaven, examines the lucrative and demeaning sex tourism
industry in the Philippines. Kiefer Sutherland narrates the film. Dr.
Ralston has been involved in a development project in the Philippines
since 1999 and is also involved in the recent Gambia Tier 2 project led
by Dr. Stephen Perrott of the Psychology department. Her academic
interests include:
- Prostitution and sex tourism in the Philippines and Canada
- Feminist epistemology
- Women in politics
- Women's rights as human rights
Selected Publications:
Reluctant Bedfellows: Feminism, Activism and Prostitution in the
Philippines with Edna Keeble, published by Kumarian Press, 2008 Buy from
Amazon
"
David Braybrooke’s Philosophy of Social Science" in Engaged
Philosophy, eds. Susan Sherwin and Peter Schotch, 2007
"Discourses and Dollars: Sex Trade in the Philippines" with Edna
Keeble, in Canadian Foreign Policy, eds. Deborah Stienstra et al, 2003
"
Upstream in the Mainstream: Strategies for Women Organizing," in
Canadian Woman Studies/Les Cahiers de la Femme, Vol. 20. No. 3, Fall
2000.
Nobody Wants to Hear our Truth: Homeless Women and Theories of the
Welfare State, published by Greenwood Press, 1996
"Homeless Women and the New Right" in Francois-Pierre Gingras’ Gender
and Politics in Contemporary Canada, published by Oxford University
Press, 1995
Film History:
Selling Sex Globally (2010)
Currently in pre-production, this film will look at the prostitution
industry globally, concentrating on trafficking of women from Nepal to
Indian, female sex tourists in the Gambia, streetwalkers in Halifax, and
brothel and fetish workers in Los Angeles.
Hope in Heaven (2006)
This film follows two years in the life of a Filipino bar girl and
deals with the issues of sex tourism in the Philippines. Mila works at a
bar called Heaven and lives in hope that a foreigner will rescue her.
Writer-director-producer. 45 min. Trailer
Winner, Beyond Borders national media award, 2007
Winner, Best documentary, Big Bear Lake Film Festival, 2005
Broadcast license with CBC Newsworld. Broadcast premiere 16 January
2007 as Selling Sex in Heaven. Reviewed by Globe and Mail, Toronto Star,
and Toronto Sun
Wendy Lill: Playwright in Parliament (1999)
A look at award-winning playwright Wendy Lill’s rookie year as a
Member of Parliament. Co-produced by the National Film Board of Canada
and Ralston Productions Ltd. 50 min.
Why Women Run (1999)
Chronicles the fierce 1997 federal election contest between Alexa
McDonough and Mary Clancy and examines the barriers to women in
politics. Produced by Kent Martin, National Film Board of Canada. 46
min.
Making the Links: The Road to Beijing (1996)
Filmed for the United Nation’s Fourth World Conference on Women in
Beijing, China. Part I documents the Nova Scotia/Beijing Women’s
Action Group preparing for the conference. Part II follows two members
of the group to Beijing. 50 min.
Upstream in the Mainstream (1995)
Documents the experiences of Nova Scotian women from varied
backgrounds. African Canadian, aboriginal, disabled, lesbian, and
immigrant women come together to discuss the issues that face their
communities. 24 min.
www.meredithralston.comwww.hopeinheavenfilm.com "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."
- Plato