School of Social Work

Faculty of Health

Raluca Bejan, PhD

Associate Professor, School of Social Work | Cross-appointed Department of European Studies | Research Associate, Jean Monnet European Union Centre of Excellence | On sabbatical leave 2025-2026

School of Social Work

Email: Raluca.Bejan@dal.ca
Phone: 902-494-2094
Mailing Address:

Room 3233, Mona Campbell Building

Research Topics:

comparative social policy (i.e., Canadian, British and EU)
ideology
South-East European, Eastern European and Balkan studies
post-communist, post-socialist and post-Soviet studies
community organizing and social movements
philosophy of social justice
labour and collective organizing
migration, mobilities and citizenship
globalization and transnationalism
refugees’ studies/forced migration
critical theory
whiteness and critical race studies

Education:
PhD, University of Toronto
MSW, University of Toronto
SSW, George Brown College, Toronto
BA (Hon.), Lucian Blaga University, Sibiu, Romania

Raluca Bejan started her position as Assistant Professor at Dalhousie University in January 2020.

Between July 2018 - December 2019 she was Assistant Professor of Critical Social Policy at St. Thomas University, in Fredericton, Canada. Bejan was a former Visiting Academic at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), University of Oxford, UK, in 2016 and 2018.

In 2018 Dr. Bejan co-directed a documentary film on the Greek refugee crisis, titled Trace. It was filmed on the islands of Lesvos, Chios, Samos, and in Athens, Greece. Trace won Best Feature Documentary at the Santorini Film Festival in 2019.

Selected Publications:

Bejan, R., Allain, K., Glynn, T., & Soto Flores, P. (2024, March 27). Falling Short: Troubles with the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program in Nova Scotia. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Bejan, R., & Glynn, T. (2023). “A Total Black Hole”: How COVID-19 Increased Bureaucratic Violence Against Refugees in Greece. Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 39(2), 1-18.
Bejan, R., Mallet-Garcia, M., Lipinski, R., Do, C., & Wolf Aviles, V. (2023, December 15). A Tale of Two Contexts: The Ukrainian and Afghan Refugee Crises in Canada and the UK. The Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), University of Oxford.
Nikolova, K., & Bejan, R. (2023). Welfare states and Covid-19 responses: Eastern versus Western democracies. Comparative Southeast European Studies, 70(4), 686-721.
Bejan, R., Allain, K., Glynn, T., & Soto Flores, P. (2023, March 1). Unfree labour: Covid-19 and migrant workers in the seafood industry in New Brunswick. TFW Maritimes, Halifax.
Bejan, R. (2022). Whiteness in question: The anatomy of a taxonomy across transnational contexts. Dialectical Anthropology, 46(3), 347-372.
Bejan, R. and Nikolova, K. (2022). COVID-19 amongst comparable countries: A welfare state approach. Social Theory and Health, 20, 1-29.
Bejan, R. (2022, June 4). “NGOs are sort of a dirty word here”: Refugee service provision in Greece. Routed Magazine.
Bejan, R. (2021). Review of Social Mendelism: Genetics and the politics of race in Germany, 1900-1948, by A. Teicher. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 77(1), 121–123.
Bejan, R. (2021). Refugees’ integration in Romania: A non-preferred choice. Working Paper. Centre of Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), University of Oxford.
Bejan, R., Allain, K., Glynn, T., Wheatley, A., & Soto Flores, P. (2021). Safe at work, unsafe at home: COVID-19 and temporary foreign workers in Prince Edward Island. TFW Maritimes. Halifax.
Bejan, R. (2020). Following the refugee relocation scheme: Ideological interpretations of interstate shared responsibility in Romania. Working Paper. RESPOND, Cambridge University.
Bejan, R. (2020, Aug. 24). What does Europe’s East-West divide tell us about its external borders ? Crisis Magazine.
Bejan, R. (2018). Problematizing the norms of fairness grounding the EU’s relocation system of shared responsibility. EUI Working Paper. Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute.
Bejan, R. (2017). Lesvos: Tracing the space of the refugee crisis. In D. Haynes, J. Howell, & F. Keles (Eds.), Maintaining refuge: Anthropological reflections in uncertain times (pp. 49–60). Society for Urban, National, and Global Anthropology and American Anthropological Association.
Bejan, R., Curpan, A. I., & Amza, O. (2017). The situation of unaccompanied minors in Romania in the course of Europe’s refugee crisis. Social Work & Society, 15(1).
Bejan, R. (2017). Equal yet inequitable: The EU’s relocation system of shared responsibility. Oxford Monitor of Forced Migration, 7(1), 4–11.
Bejan, R. (2017). Review of Strangers no more: Immigration and the challenges of integration in North America and Western Europe, by R. Alba and N. Foner. Social Service Review, 91(1), 159–168.

Op-eds (selected)

Bejan, R. & Nikolova, K. (2022, Dec.21). After the Cold War: Why COVID-19 infection and death rates were so high in eastern Europe. The Conversation.
Ross, N.M., Bejan, R. & Zubriki, S. (2022, Nov 21). University and school strikes across Canada are about workers’ rights — and protecting education as a public good. The Conversation. Republished by Academic Matters.
Bejan, R. (2022, Oct 22). Why social workers should support the CUPE 3912 labour strike. Canadian Dimension.
Bejan, R., & Bryan, C. (2022, Mar. 23). How Canada capitalizes on Ukrainian refugees. Verfassungsblog.
Bejan, R., & Bogovic, R. (2022, Mar. 11). Ukraine: How citizenship and race play out in refugees’ movements in Europe. The Conversation. Republished by Dal News, FirstPost and the Oasis Reporters.
Bejan, R., & Nabi, S. (2021, Dec.1). The EU is the real villain in the Poland-Belarus migrant crisis. The Conversation.Republished by Dal News.
Bejan, R. & Nikolova, K. (2021, October 5). How Canada compares to welfare states in COVID-19 cases and deaths. The Conversation. Republished by Dal News and Halifax Chronicle Herald.
Bejan, R., Allain, K, & Glynn, T. (2021, Jul. 2). COVID-19 has exacerbated migrant workers’ conditions and enforced distinctions on national lines. Centre of Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), University of Oxford.
Bejan, R., & Boatcă, M. (2021, Apr. 28). Migrant workers’ safety concerns should be a pandemic priority. Verfassungsblog.
Bejan, R., & Allain, K. (2021, Mar. 4). Profits trump COVID-19 protections for migrant seafood workers in Atlantic Canada. The Conversation. Republished by Yahoo News; Dal News; AgenParl France; Latino Rebels; The Telegram; Halifax Chronicle Herald; The Guardian PEI; Cape Breton Post; Journal Pioneer; Philippine Canadian Inquirer.
Bejan, R. (2020, Aug. 5). How we mourn the victims of tragedies depends on their citizenship status. The Conversation. Republished by Dal News; Halifax Chronicle Herald; Cape Breton Post; The Telegram; Journal Pioneer.
Bejan, R. (2020, May 4). New Brunswick debate on migrant workers leaves a lot to be desired. rabble.ca.
Bejan, R. (2020, April 17). Don’t make refugees political pawns in Turkey-EU game. The Globe Post.
Bejan, R. (2020, April 16). COVID-19 and disposable migrant workers. Verfassungsblog.
Bejan, R. (2019, December 1). Why some EU countries are struggling to relocate migrants. The Conversation.
Bejan, R. (2019, November 20). Latest withdrawal agreement fails Romanian and Bulgarian workers. Centre of Migration, Policy and Society, University of Oxford.
Bejan, R. (2017, July 31). A 50/50 ball: The East versus the EU in the refugee relocation game. Verfassungsblog. Cross-posted on rabble.ca and LeftEast.

Creative outputs
Exhibits (selected)

Bejan, R. & Cocan, I. (2022, July). TRACE: Tracing the Space of the Refugee Crisis. [Multi-media exhibit]. ARTHUB, Bucharest, Romania.
Bejan, R., Cocan, I., & Lan, N. (2022, May). TRACE. [Photography exhibit]. CONTACT Photography Festival, Toronto.
Bejan, R., Cocan, I., & Lan, N. (2020, Jan.–Feb.). Tracing the space of the refugee crisis. [Multimedia exhibit]. Beaverbrook Art Gallery and the UNB Art Centre, Fredericton.

News Coverage (selected):

Riley, A. (2024, December 17). How a new agreement between DAL and Mexico could improve the treatment of foreign workers in Atlantic Canada. DAL News.
CBC Information Morning with Portia Clark (2024, October 28). DAL and Mexican government to study welfare of temporary foreign workers. CBC Radio.
CBC TV. (2024, August 15). N.S. researcher wants to see changes to protect temporary foreign workers. CBC TV.
Canadian Press. (2024, August 15). Nova Scotia researchers not surprised by critical report on Canada’s migrant worker program. The Globe and Mail. Cross-posted Toronto Star.
Brown, S. (August 28, 2024). How welcoming is Canada? Dr. Raluca Bejan’s study looks at the inequalities of Canada’s reception of refugees from Ukraine versus Afghanistan. Dal News.
D’Entremont, Y. (2024, March 27). New report outlines troubles with migrant worker program in Nova Scotia. Halifax Examiner.
CBC Radio (2024, March 27). Raluca Bejan from Dalhousie University speaks about new research on temporary foreign workers. CBC Listen. Maritime Noon with Bob Murphy.
Raj, A. (2024, Feb 9). Is Canada’s consensus on immigration fracturing? Toronto Star.
Global News TV (2023, December 23). Were Canada and the UK welcoming to recent refugees? Global News.
Dalhousie News (2023, December 18). Were Canada and the UK welcoming to recent refugees? Not so much, find researchers. Dal News.
Radio-Canada TV (2023, October 4). Abus contre des travailleurs étrangers: On a besoin d’actions. Radio-Canada.
Ibrahim, H. (2023, March 2). Unclear whether N.B. employers will face consequences over alleged abuse of foreign workers. CBC New Brunswick.
CBC Information Morning Saint John with Julia Wright (2023, March 2). Living conditions for temporary foreign workers. CBC Saint John.
CBC National News-TV (2023, March 1). Temporary foreign workers in seafood plants faced long hours, minimal pay: Report. CBC National.
CBC News Nova Scotia-TV (2023, March 1). A new report out of a university in Nova Scotia is painting a bleak picture of the lives of temporary foreign workers who come to Canada. CBC Nova Scotia.
CBC New Brunswick News-TV (2023, March 1). Principle Investigator Raluca Bejan talks with Harry Forestell for the CBC New Brunswick News.
Canadian Press (2023, March 1). “Unfree labour”: N.B. seafood foreign workers faced awful conditions, study says. Canadian Press. Cross-posted: Global News; Toronto Star; National Post; Yahoo Finance; St. Catherine Standard;Alaska Highway News; Guelph Today; The Record; The Winnipeg Free Press; The Chronicle Journal of the Northwest; Huddle Today.
CTV News. (2023, March 1). “Unfree labour”: N.B. seafood foreign workers faced awful conditions, study says. CTV News.
Ibrahim, H. (2023, March 1). Foreign workers at N.B. seafood plants face threats, cramped quarters and racism, study finds. CBC New Brunswick.
Jones, L. (2023, March 1). Conditions for migrant workers in New Brunswick seafood industry abusive, dangerous: Report. The Globe and Mail.
CBC Maritime Noon with Bob Murphy (2023, March 1). A researcher at Dalhousie University tells us about her new report into working conditions in NB for temporary foreign workers. CBC Maritime Noon.
CBC Information Morning Saint John with Julia Wright (2023, March 1). Migrant workers face tough conditions in NB. CBC New Brunswick.
DAL News. (2023, March 1). Migrant workers describe grim conditions in New Brunswick’s seafood industry. Dal News.
Radio-Canada TV (2023, March 1). Mieux protéger les travailleurs étrangers. Radio-Canada.
Gaudreau, N. (2023, March 1). Abus, harcèlement, logements surpeuplés: Des travailleurs étrangers exploités au NB. Radio-Canada.
CBC Radio Maritime Connection with Preston Mulligan (2022, Nov.13). How do you think we can protect the rights of temporary foreign workers... and help them become Canadians if that’s what they want. CBC Maritime Connection.
CBC Radio InfoMorning (2022, Mar. 31). The problem with the temporary protection for the Ukrainian refugees. CBC Radio Halifax.
Global News Radio 770 CHQR. (2021, October 7). How Canada compares to welfare states. Global News, Calgary.
Dal News. (2021, June 3). Temporary foreign workers in P.E.I. faced inadequate housing and overcrowding despite pandemic: Study. Dal News.
Koch, D. (2021, June 3). 17 people to a bedroom: Report describes living conditions for migrant workers. The Telegraph (Moncton).
Neatby, S. (2021, June 1). “The bosses think that we are their slaves”: P.E.I. report documents crowded housing, “unscrupulous” labour practices for migrant workers. The Guardian PEI.
CBC Radio One P.E.I. (2021, June 1). Interview with Mitch Cormier on temporary foreign workers in P.E.I. Island Morning.
CBC News. (2021, June 1). Report details poor living conditions, “unscrupulous” practices for P.E.I. migrant workers. CBC News.
Koch, D. (2021, Apr. 5). Province “irresponsible” not to give migrants vaccine priority. The Telegraph (Moncton, NB).
Koch, D. (2021, Feb. 6). Prioritize safety of migrant workers, say advocates. The Telegraph (Moncton, NB).
CBC PEI. (2020, Nov. 6). Interview – Temporary foreign workers in the Canadian Maritimes. CBC Compass Television.
CBC New Brunswick. (2020, Nov. 5). Temporary foreign workers in the Canadian Maritimes. CBC TV.
Global News. (2020, Oct. 27). Dalhousie University to document impact of COVID-19 on temporary foreign workers. Global News.
CBC Radio One Nova Scotia. (2020, Oct. 8). Temporary foreign workers in the Canadian Maritimes. CBC Information Morning.
SSHRC News. (2020, June 5). New Dal prof’s award-winning doc depicts different side of refugee crisis. SSHRC News.
Gordon Koch, D. (2020, May 30). COVID-19 worker ban reversed way too late. The Telegraph (Moncton).