Joseph Burton

Research Analyst

Joseph Burton is Halifax-based researcher, writer, and educator with expertise in the fields of history and sociological analysis. His PhD research, which is ongoing in the Department of History at Simon Fraser University, explores the transmission of anarchist ideas in North America during the middle and latter twentieth century, focusing on the Industrial Workers of the World and linkages between democracy and revolutionary practice. His writing has been published in both scholarly and popular outlets and he has shared and discussed his work at academic conferences in Canada and the United States. As an educator and sessional instructor, Joseph’s teaching has focused on encouraging critical perspectives on diverse themes in Canadian history, including on the histories of work and working life in North America and on the intersection of studies of labour, colonization, and Indigenous history.

Joseph has applied his research training to numerous projects beyond academic scholarship. He is especially interested in supporting initiatives for accessible pedagogy and democratic governance. As a student representative at SFU, at both the departmental and university level, Joseph engaged regularly with faculty members, administrators, and fellow students to address issues of affordability and representation. Such work included joining grassroots organizing and canvasing campaigns to assess the impact of rising tuition on student wellbeing and joining demonstrations before the university Board of Directors to relay evidence-based solutions for the ongoing cost-of-education crisis.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, he also worked closely with the Department of History at SFU to reorient the first-year Canadian history course for an online environment, researching the use and scope of online teaching platforms such as Canvas and interrogating secondary literatures to distill best practices for an engaging digital pedagogy.

In recent years, this interest in public engagement has taken Joseph’s professional life beyond the academy. Between 2021 and 2023, he worked in a collaborating role with the Canadian heritage organization, Defining Moments Canada, (DMC), contributing to a project on the 1872 Nine Hour Movement to fill gaps in secondary school history education. In his capacity as a Collaborating Historian, Joseph consulted with DMC during a successful project application to the Department of Canadian Heritage, and he has since written several accessible articles on labour history for use on the project website and reviewed the work of other contributors for clarity and historical accuracy.

At ATN, Joseph leverages his research expertise to fulfill stakeholder needs and to tether diverse community voices to the decision-making procedures affecting them.

Prior to studying for his PhD, Joseph completed a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of New Brunswick (2015) and an MPhil in Political Sociology from the University of Cambridge (2017).