Jacques Bertrand

Jacques Bertrand is Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto, as well as Director of the Collaborative Master’s Specialization in Contemporary East and Southeast Asian Studies (Asian Institute, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Affairs). He was the founding director of the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at the Asian Institute. He is also the co-founder of the Postcor Lab at the University of Toronto, a research hub for the study of civil wars and war-to-peace transitions.

Professor Bertrand has worked for many years on issues of ethnic conflict, nationalism and secessionism in Southeast Asia. His research has been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the United States Institute of Peace, as well as the International Development Research Centre. His most recent book, just published in July 2022, is entitled Winning by Process: The State and Neutralization of Ethnic Minorities in Myanmar (w/ Ardeth Thawnghmung and Alexandre Pelletier, Cornell UP, July 2022). Last year, he published Democracy and Nationalist Struggles in Southeast Asia: From secessionist mobilization to conflict resolution (Cambridge UP, 2021). He is also the author of Political Change in Southeast Asia (Cambridge, 2013) as well as Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict in Indonesia (Cambridge, 2004). Finally, Professor Bertrand has co-edited two volumes: Multination States in Asia: Accommodation or Resistance (Cambridge, 2010); and Democratization and Ethnic Minorities: Conflict or Compromise? (Routledge, 2014), in addition to numerous articles and book chapters.

His work has been funded by several grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and twice by the United States Institute of Peace. Professor Bertrand was also co-investigator and executive member of a SSHRC Major Collaborative Research Initiative on Ethnicity and Democratic Governance.

His books include Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict in Indonesia (Cambridge, 2004); Multination States in Asia: Accommodation or Resistance (Cambridge, 2010); Political Change in Southeast Asia (Cambridge, 2013); Democratization and Ethnic Minorities: Conflict or Compromise? (Routledge, 2014); Democracy and Nationalism in Southeast Asia (Cambridge, 2021); and Winning by Process: The State and Neutralization of Ethnic Minorities in Myanmar (w/ Ardeth Thawnghmung and Alexandre Pelletier, Cornell UP, July 2022).

He is a member of the editorial board of Pacific Affairs. He is also past President of Canadian Council for Southeast Asian Studies.