Research

Books
Barnetson, B. (2018). Canada's labour-market training system. Edmonton: Athabasca University Press.
McDonald, S. and Barnetson, B. (eds). (2016). Farm workers in western Canada: Injustices and activism. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press.
Foster, J. and Barnetson, B. (2016). Health and safety in Canadian workplaces. Edmonton: Athabasca University.
Barnetson, B. (2010). The political economy of workplace injury in Canada. Edmonton: Athabasca University Press.

Articles
Foster, J., Barnetson, B. and Cake, S. (2023). "Catch me if you can": Changing forms of permanent exceptionalism in to Charter jurisprudence. Canadian Labour & Employment Law Journal. 25(1): 1-23.
Foster, J., Cake, S. and Barnetson, B. (2022). Profits First, Safety Second: Canada’s Occupational Health and Safety System at 50. Labour/Le Travail. 90: 179-202.
Hill, N., Dorow, S., Barnetson, B., Fuentes Martinez, J. and Matsunaga-Turnbull, J. (2019). Occupational health and safety for domestic workers in Canada: Dimensions of (im)mobilityNew Solutions. 29(3): 397-421.
Barnetson, B., Foster, J. and Matsunaga-Turnbull, J. (2018). Estimating under-claiming of compensable workplace injuries in Alberta, CanadaCanadian Public Policy. 44(4): 400-410.
Foster, J., Barnetson, B. and Matsunaga-Turnbull, J. (2018). Don't fear the reaper: Newspaper effects on worker perceptions of injuryLabour & Industry. 28(4); 244-260.
Foster, J., Barnetson, B. and Matsunaga-Turnbull, J. (2018). Fear factory: Retaliation and rights claiming in Alberta, CanadaJournal of Workplace Rights. 8(2) 1-12.
Barnetson, B. (2018). Understanding the absence of unionized workers in rural Alberta, CanadaJournal of rural and community Development. 13(1): 26-46.
Foster, J. and Barnetson, B. (2017). Who’s on Secondary?: The Impact of Temporary Foreign Workers on Alberta Construction Employment PatternsLabour/Le Travail. 80: 27-53.
Foster, J. and Barnetson, B. (2017). Dead today, gone tomorrow: The framing of workplace injury in Canadian newspapers, 2009-2014Canadian Journal of Communication. 42(4): 611-629.
McCutcheon, M. and Barnetson, B. (2016). Resistance is futile: On the under-representation of unions in science fictionTopia. 36: 151-171.
Barnetson, B. and Foster, J. (2016). Dead quiet in the hinterlands: The construction of workplace injuries in western Canadian newspapers, 2009-2014. Labour & Industry. 26(2): 75-89.
Barnetson, B. (2015). ‘Politically, how do you make it relevant?... Kill more young people.’ The prospects for greater enforcement of teen employment laws in Alberta, Canada. Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations. 70(3): 558-583.
Barnetson, B. and Foster, J. (2015). If it bleeds, it leads: The construction of workplace injury in Canadian newspapers, 2009-2014International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 21(3): 258–265.
Barnetson, B. (2015). 'Fortis et liber' unless you are a farm worker: Farmworkers, firefighters and workers’ compensation exceptionalism in Alberta, CanadaJournal of Workplace Rights. April-May: 1-13.
Foster, J. and Barnetson, B. (2015). The construction of migrant work and workers by Alberta legislators, 2000-2011Canadian Ethnic Studies. 47(1): 107-132.
Barnetson, B. and Foster, J. (2014). Political justification of employment-related geographic mobility in Alberta, CanadaJournal of International Migration and Integration. 15: 349-370.
Barnetson, B. (2013). Framing and blaming: Construction of workplace injuries by legislators in Alberta, Canada. International Journal of Occupational and Environment Health. 19(4): 332-343.
Barnetson, B. (2013). Incidence of work and workplace injury among Alberta teensJust Labour. 20. 14-32.
Barnetson, B. (2012). No right to be safe: Justifying the exclusion of Alberta farm workers from occupational health and safety legislations. Socialist Studies. 8(2). 134-162.
Barnetson, B. (2012). The validity of Alberta safety statisticsJust Labour. 19. 1-21
Foster, J. and Barnetson, B. (2012). Justice for Janitors in Alberta: The impact of temporary foreign workers on an organizing campaignJournal of Workplace Rights. 16(1). 3-29.
Barnetson, B. and Foster, J. (2012). Bloody lucky: The careless worker myth in Alberta, Canada. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health. 18(2). 135-146.
Barnetson, B. (2010). Effectiveness of complaint-driven regulation of child labour in Alberta. Just labour. 16. 9-24.
Barnetson, B. (2010). Alberta’s 2002 teacher strike: The political economy of labor relations in education. Education policy analysis archives. 18(3). 1-23.
Barnetson, B. (2009). The regulatory exclusion of agricultural workers in Alberta. Just labour. 14. 50-74.
Barnetson, B. (2009). Narratives justifying unregulated child labour in agriculture. Journal of rural and community development. 4(1). 67-83.
Barnetson, B. (2009). The regulation of child and adolescent labour in Alberta. Just labour. 13. 29-47.
Barnetson, B. (2008). Performance measures in Alberta’s labour programming. Canadian political science review. 2(1). 35-50.
Barnetson, B. (2001). Part-time and limited-term faculty in Alberta's colleges. Canadian journal of higher education. 31 (2). 79-102.
Barnetson, B. and Cutright, M. (2000). Performance indicators as conceptual technologies. Higher education. 48 (3). 277–292.
Barnetson, B. and Boberg, A. (2000). Resource allocation and public policy in Alberta's higher education system. Canadian journal of higher education. 30 (2). 57-85.
Boberg, A. and Barnetson, B. (2000). System-wide program assessment with performance indicators: Alberta's performance funding mechanism. Canadian journal of program evaluation. Special Issue. 3–23.
Barnetson, R.J. (1999). A review of Alberta's performance-based funding mechanism. Quality in higher education. 5 (1). 30–47.
Barnetson, R.J. (1998). The impact of the Baby-Bust generation on adult education. Canadian journal for the study of adult education. 12 (1). 27–46.
Barnetson, R.J. (1997). Educational quality and performance-based funding: Changing definitions and offloading responsibility in Alberta's post-secondary system. Education policy analysis archives. 5 (22). 1–15.
Barnetson, R.J. (1997). The Alberta experience: A return to popular education? Canadian journal for the study of adult education. 10 (1). 99–110.

Book Chapters
Foster, J., Cake, S. and Barnetson, B. (2023). Turning the screws, turning back the clock: The UCP and labour. In T. Harrison and R. Acuna (eds). Anger and Angst: Jason Kenney's Legacy and Alberta's Right. Black Rose Press. 
Barnetson, B. (2021). Regulating Worker Safety and Injuries. In D. Doorey (ed). The Law of Work: Common Law and the Regulation of Work, 2nd Ed. Toronto: Emond Montgomery. 
Barnetson, B. (2016). Capitalist farms, vulnerable workers: The political economy of farm work in Alberta. in McDonald, S. and Barnetson, B. (eds). Farm workers in western Canada.  Edmonton: University of Alberta Press. 1-29.
Barnetson, B. (2015). Regulating Worker Safety and Injuries. In D. Doorey (ed). The Law of Work: Common Law and the Regulation of Work. Toronto: Emond Montgomery. 315-327.
Barnetson, B. (2015). Worker safety in Alberta: Trading health for profit. in M. Shrivastava and L. Stefanick (eds). Alberta Oil and the Decline of Democracy in Canada. Edmonton: Athabasca University Press. 225-248.
Foster, J. and Barnetson, B. (2015). Exporting Oil, Importing Labour and Weakening Democracy: The Use of Foreign Migrant Workers in Alberta. in M. Shrivastava and L. Stefanick (eds). Alberta Oil and the Decline of Democracy in Canada. Edmonton: Athabasca University Press. 249-274.
Barnetson, B. (2001). Performance indicators and chaos theory. In Cutright, M. (ed.) Chaos theory and higher education: Leadership, planning and policy. Baltimore: Peter Lang. 145-158.

Reviews
Barnetson, B. (2013). Still dying for a living: Corporate criminal liability after the Westray Mine disaster. Labour/Le Travail. 72. 325-326.
Barnetson, B. (2011). Making capitalism safe: Work safety and health regulation in America, 1880-1940. Labour/Le Travail. 67. 261-263.
Barnetson, B. (2010). Heavy burdens on small shoulders: The labour of pioneer children on the Canadian prairies. Great plains research. 20(2). 271.
Barnetson, B. (2009). Solidarity first: Canadian workers and social cohesion. Labour/Le Travail. 63. 273-275.
Barnetson, B. (2001) Management fads in higher education: Where they come from, what they do, why they fail. Education review: A journal of book reviews.

Academic Presentations 

(with Jason Foster and Susan Cake). Secret Mandates and Government Interference in Public Sector Collective Bargaining: The Case of Alberta. Canadian Industrial Relations Association Annual Conference. Toronto. 29 May 2023.

(with Jason Foster and Susan Cake). Permanent Exceptionalism for the 21st Century: New Forms of Government Interference in Public Sector Collective Bargaining. CRIMT 2022. Montreal. 27 October 2022.
(with Jason Foster and Susan Cake). Nothing to See Here: The Cargill High River COVID-19 Outbreak as a Case of Regulatory Failure (and Capture?). Canadian Industrial Relations Association conference. Kingston. 27 May 2022.
(with Jason Foster and Susan Cake). Cargill, COVID, and Canada's OHS system. Canadian Association for Work & Labour Studies. online. 18 May 2022.
(with Jason Foster and Susan Cake). Alberta' attack on worker rights. Canadian Association for Work & Labour Studies. Edmonton. 3 June 3 2021.
What is a workers' life worth? Panel Presentation. Repetitive Strain Awareness conference. Sudbury: 28 February 2020.

(with Jason Foster) Labour under a Kenney Government. Parkland Institute Symposium. Edmonton: 19 February 2020.
(with Jason Foster and Jared Matsunaga-Turnbull). Bring out your dead: Media influence on worker perceptions of injury. Canadian Association for Work & Labour Studies. Regina: 1 June 2018.
(with Jason Foster and Jared Matsunaga-Turnbull). Fear Factory: Retaliation and Workers’ Hesitance to Claim Employment Rights. Canadian Industrial Relations Association. Montreal: 2 May 2018.
Assessing the New Democrats' policy record in rural Alberta. Parkland Public Policy Symposium. Edmonton: 10 July 2017.
(with Jason Foster). Impact of Temporary Foreign Workers on Alberta Construction Employment Patterns.  Canadian Association for Work & Labour Studies. Calgary: 1 June 2016.
Political and economic barriers to organizing farm workers. Canadian Association for Work & Labour Studies. Calgary: 2 June 2016.
Urban and industrial: The structural challenges of rural engagement by Alberta unions. Canadian Association for Work & Labour Studies  Calgary: 2 June 2016.
(with Jason Foster). Move it along, nothing to see here: The construction of workplace injury in Canadian newspapers. Canadian Association for Work & Labour Studies. Calgary: 2 June 2016.
(with Jason Foster). The impact of temporary foreign workers on gender equity in Alberta’s construction occupations. Canadian Political Science Association 87th Annual Conference. Ottawa: 2 June 2015.
(with Mark McCutcheon). No future for labour: On the absence of unions from science fiction. Popular Culture Association of Canada 4th Annual Conference. Calgary.  8-10 May 2014.
Narratives justifying the exclusion of Alberta farm workers from occupational health and safety legislation. Association for Canadian Studies in the United States Bi-ennial Conference. Tampa. 20 November 2013.
Panel: (with Wendy Knelsen, Sari Sairanen and John Macinnon). Meredith Reconvened: Panel and Plenary Discussion of 2013 “Meredith” Interim Report. No Half Measures: Workers' Compensation 100 years after Sir William Meredith. Don Mills. 2 November 2013.
We're not worthy: Firefighter and farm worker exceptionalism in Alberta workers' compensation. No Half Measures: Workers' Compensation 100 years after Sir William Meredith. Don Mills. 1 November 2013.
(with Jason Foster) The construction of migrant work and workers by Alberta legislators, 2000-2011. Transforming Citizenship: Ethnicity, Transnationalism and Belonging in Canada. Edmonton. 25 October 2013.
Worker safety in Alberta: trading health for profit. (full paper here) Canadian Political Science Association 85th Annual Conference. Victoria. 6 June 2013.
Incidence of work and workplace injury among Alberta teens. Canadian Industrial Relations Association 50th Conference. Toronto. 31 May 2013.
Panel: Teaching Industrial Relations. Canadian Industrial Relations Association 50th Conference. Toronto. 30 May 2013.
Incidence of work and workplace injury among Alberta teenagers. Alberta Studies Research Symposium. Edmonton. 4 March 2013.
Workers and the Petro-State: Worker Safety and Injury in Alberta. Parkland Institute Petro, Power and Politics Conference. Edmonton. 24 November 2012.
(with Jason Foster). Foreign Migrant Workers in Alberta. (full paper here) Canadian Political Science Association 84th Annual Conference. Edmonton. 13 June 2012.
Trading Workers' Health for Profit in a Petro-State. Athabasca University Arts and Science Lecture Series. Edmonton. 18 May 2012.
WorkSafe New Brunswick's Focus Firms Intervention. Association of Workers' Compensation Board of Canada Annual Conference. Toronto. 15 May 2012.
Hiding injuries and blaming the worker in Alberta. Research Action Alliance on the Consequences of Workplace Injury Symposium. Toronto. 18 November 2011.
Narratives justifying unregulated child agricultural labour in Alberta. Poster session. Canadian Industrial Relations Association 2009 conference. Gatineau. May 28, 2009.
Child labour in Alberta. Poster session. Work-Learning Network 2008 conference, Edmonton. October 23-34, 2008
Union density and employment standards. Presentation to the Canadian Association of Administrators of Labour Legislation. Calgary. May 31, 2006.

Community Presentations
Fuck around and find out: Digital picketing at Athabasca University. Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations annual conference. Banff. 19 May 2022.
(with Jason Foster and Jared Matsunaga-Turnbull). Dead men talking: Media misrepresentations of workplace injury. Thunderbay Inujred Workers Network. 25 May 2021.
Holding out for a Coursehero: Athabasca University's non-response to cheating websites. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Panel Discussion. Edmonton. 22 January 2020.
(with Jason Foster and Jared Matsunaga-Turnbull). Worker reports of OHS compliance, injury, and fear. Alberta Labour Research Series. Edmonton. 20 November 2019.
Barriers to implementing OERs. Council of Alberta Universities Students. Edmonton. 20 November 2019.
The safety is off: Exercising your OHS rights at Athabasca University. Alberta Union of Provincial Employees Local 69 and Athabasca University Faculty Association. 21 Athabasca. October 2019.
Labour standards: Important but ineffective. Alberta Union of Provincial Employees OHS Workshop. Edmonton. 26 April 2019.
9 to 5: Labour standards in Alberta. Health Sciences Association of Alberta speakers series. Edmonton. 13 March 2019.
Dead men tell no tales: Reporting and distorting occupational injuries. NASH81 Conference. Calgary. 3 January  2019.
Labour. Alberta Alternative Budget Workshop. Edmonton. 16 November 2018.
Picket Planning in Post-Secondary Education. Western Regionals Faculty Conference. Athabasca. 20 October 2018.
Occupational health and safety through the lens of political economy. Alberta Union of Provincial Employees MSO Workshop. Edmonton. 13 September 2018.
Strikes in the public sector: Lessons from 1985. Alberta Union of Provincial Employees Labour School. Banff. 26 March 2018.
The political economy of workplace injury in Alberta. Alberta Union of Provincial Employees Labour School. Banff. 27 March 2018.
(with Jason Foster) Buried and forgotten: Newspaper coverage of workplace injuries in Alberta. AUPE OHS Conference. Edmonton. 28 April 2017.
(with Jason Foster) Pushing back: How to make Alberta workplaces safer. Alberta Union of Provincial Employees OHS Conference. Edmonton. 28 April 2017.
(with Jason Foster) Open Educational Resources and occupational health and safety training. Alberta Labour History Institute Workshop Series. Edmonton. 15 February 2016.
Overcoming legal barriers to fair labour practice. Parkland Institute Fall Conference. Edmonton. 22 November 2015.
(with Jason Foster) No girls allowed: The impact of migrant workers on gender equity in Alberta's construction occupations. Athabasca University Research Forum. Edmonton. 14 April 2015.
(with Alison Taylor and Jason Foster) The implications of temporary foreign worker policy in Alberta. University of Alberta Sustainability Summit. Edmonton. 25 January 2014.
Workplace safety, political corruption and social injustice in an oil-based economy. University of Alberta Sustainability Summit. Edmonton. 25 January 2014.
The hidden epidemic of workplace injury in Alberta. United Utility Workers' Association Annual General Meeting. Edmonton. 29 September 2013
Grievances, Appeals and Complaints. Athabasca University Faculty Association Annual Retreat. Edmonton. 16 September 2013.
Tory message management around migrant workers in Alberta. Parkland Institute Oil and Social Democracy Speakers Series. Edmonton. 16 May 2013.
Education sector collective bargaining in Alberta. Alberta Union of Public Employees Education Sector Bargaining Conference. Calgary. 25 February 2013.
Labour and Safety in a Natural Resource Economy. Parkland Institute Oil and Democracy Speakers Series. Edmonton. 25 May 2012.
Why is Alberta’s OHS system ineffective? Calgary Workers’ Resource Centre Annual General Meeting. Calgary. 26 May 2011.
Worker health in a boom-bust economy. Class presentation: CSL 350/360 & 550/560: Oil + Community: Health Equity in a Petro-Environment, University of Alberta, May 25, 2011.
The regulation of child labour in Canada. Work-Learning Network Seminar Series. Edmonton. October 6, 2010.
Justifying Alberta's exclusion of farm workers from occupational health and safety legislation. Athabasca University Research Forum. Edmonton. 10 April 2012
Child labour in Alberta: Incidence and Regulation. Arts and Science Lecture Series, Athabasca University. Edmonton. June 18, 2010.
Serving a diverse faculty association membership. Panel discussion at the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Association Retreat. Pigeon Lake. May 20, 2009.
Collective bargaining in Alberta Universities. Panel Discussion at the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Association Retreat. Pigeon Lake. May 23, 2008.

Trade Publications and Reports
Foster, J., Barnetson, B., and Cake, S. (2024). Thumb on the scale: Alberta government interference in  public-sector bargaining. Edmonton: Parkland Institute. 36pp.
Barnetson, B. (2023). To the breaking point: The UCP government's cheapening of labour. Alberta Views. 26(4): 24-28.
Barnetson, B. (2020). Kenney's war on workers. Alberta Views. 23(1): 27-31.
Barnetson, B. and Matsunaga-Turnbull, J. (2018). Safer by design: How Alberta can improve workplace safety. Edmonton: Parkland Institute and Alberta Workers' Health Centre.
Barnetson, B. (2018). Should essential services workers have the right to strike? Alberta Views. 21(4): 38-38.
Barnetson, B., Foster, J. and Matsunaga-Turnbull, J. (2017). Developing Performance Indicators for Alberta’s Internal Responsibility System. Edmonton: Government of Alberta, OHS Futures Program.
Foster, J.  and Barnetson, B. (2016). Buried and forgotten: Newspaper coverage of workplace injury and death in Alberta. Edmonton: Parkland Institute. 30pp.
Barnetson, B. (2015). Illegal and injurious: How Alberta has failed teen workers. Edmonton: Parkland Institute. 36pp.
Barnetson, B. (2015). A dirty business: The exclusion of Alberta farm workers from workers' compensation. Edmonton: Parkland Institute. 36pp
Campanella, D., Barnetson, B. and MacEwan, A. (2014). On the job: Why unions matter in Alberta. Edmonton: Parkland Institute. 58pp
Barnetson, B. (2014). The war on workers: Draconian laws and dramatic fallout. Alberta Views. 17(4): 28-33.
Barnetson, B. (2013). Incidence of work and workplace injury among Alberta teens, 2012/13. Alberta Workers' Health Centre. December 2.
Barnetson, B. (2013). Making it home: Alberta workplace injuries and the union safety dividend. Fact Sheet. Parkland Institute. September 26.
Barnetson, B. (2013). Alberta's injury statistics are inherently flawed: But is it willful blindness? Alberta Oil Magazine. September 19.
Barnetson, B. (2013). Alberta's most unsafe workplace: Why farm workers have so few rights or protections. Alberta Views. 16(4): 28-32.
Barnetson, B., Fraser, S. and Lunny, C. (2012). An evaluation of the impact of the WorkSafe New Brunswick Focus Firms intervention on reported safety behaviour and injury outcomes. Vancouver: WorkSafeBC. 45pp.
Barnetson, B. (2011). Alberta's child labour laws: The need for change. Edmonton: Alberta Federation of Labour. 4pp.
Barnetson, B. (2010). Child labour on Alberta farms: Debunking five arguments against regulation. Our times. 29(4). 15-19.
Foster, J. and Barnetson, B. (2010). Not So Bloody Lucky! Safety ads put blame for workplace accidents on workers. The CCPA monitor. 17(3). 8-9.
Barnetson, B. (2009). The regulatory exclusion of agricultural workers in Alberta. Union. 3. 10-13.