Trudeau Centre for Peace, Conflict and Justice
Established in 2001, the Trudeau Centre is an interdisciplinary institution dedicated to the study of peace, conflict and justice. Although non-partisan in nature, it is inspired by Trudeau’s admonition to put “reason above passion.” The Centre features prominent speakers, serves as a home away from home for undergraduate majors in Peace, Conflict and Justice at the Munk School, sponsors graduate student fellows, invites visiting scholars interested in conflict resolution, and organizes the Frank Woods Lecture Series.
The Centre’s programming is oriented around three core themes: diplomacy and dialogue; multicultural identity, humanitarianism and rights; and rational governance in global politics.
The Trudeau Centre is a place where the assumptions of inevitable conflict are interrogated, where proposals for the resolution of conflicts are made, and where the lessons and limits of nonviolent methods are explored. The Trudeau Centre is a place that seeks to understand the roots of dissatisfaction in expertise, both in Canada and beyond. The Trudeau Centre is a place where students, faculty and public servants search for a proper calibration of group identity and individual self-determination and for ways to channel identity into peace rather than conflict.
The Trudeau Centre can count on the invaluable support of its Advisory Board, whose members provide strategic advice to the Director of the Trudeau Centre on the academic mission and help to increase the Trudeau Centre’s visibility and presence in the U of T community and in civil society. The Board also collaborates to create opportunities for mentorships, partnerships, and internships with organizations where Board members are connected, and seeks to build key relationships with individuals, foundations and corporations to advance and implement fundraising goals that support the priorities of the Trudeau Centre.
A message from the Director
At this perilous moment in history, the philosophy and values of Pierre Trudeau are needed more than ever. Everywhere we look, we see a drift away from his core principles of rational governance, multiculturalism and individual rights, and reasoned dialogue. We live in a time of passion over reason.
Trudeau’s legacy is one of constantly looking for ways to bridge divides between conflicting groups. In an age of increasing militarism and polarization, this sensibility is in retreat. Diplomacy in its truest sense reasoned dialogue among contending parties seeking to find solutions that leave both sides better off. Where that is impossible, diplomacy is the pursuit of tough compromises that leave everyone unhappy, which requires a recognition of the legitimate interests of those on the other side of an issue.
Under Trudeau, Canada became the first country in the world to officially commit itself to multiculturalism. The Prime Minister articulated a particular understanding of identity rooted in acceptance of difference and appreciation of diversity, successfully redefining Canadian national identity as a cosmopolitan identity. A fervent individualist, Trudeau rejected the nationalist and nativist notion that identity was a matter of inheritance restricted to those born to a particular place. That which made Canadians similar was their celebration of difference. The conception was ahead of its time, but it is now the subject of intense backlash, particularly in the context of surging migration across the world.
Trudeau was one of the first in Canada to recognize that the complexities of modern life requires policy-making to be informed by those with specialized knowledge. This need has only increased over time, and yet there has never been a more difficult time for expertise. This is just as true at the international as at the domestic level, where the popularity of international organizations is at historic lows. We cannot deny that much of the promise of technocratic government has gone unrealized; bureaucracies can make policy sclerotic when they are supposed to make it more efficient.
Although a recent immigrant to Canada, Trudeau’s legacy resonates with me greatly. My own research explores the limits of rationality in international politics, shows the possibilities for diplomacy to overcome conflict even in unlikely situations, and considers the conditions that allow us to think beyond our narrow parochial interests, even in international relations. I am proud to direct a centre bearing Trudeau’s name.
Brian C. Rathbun
Munk Chair for Global Affairs
Director, Trudeau Centre
